A settlement that was proposed by the Johns Hopkins Hospital to over 8,000 of their former patients is now being contested, with the patients saying that the lawyers handling the case may end up getting a huge amount of the $190 million proposed deal. These patients are women who filed complaints after a gynecologist from the notable facility was found to have been secretly recording examinations. Up to 25 women have filed an objection to the proposed settlement last week after saying that the nominated legal fees were too high at 35%. They also called into question how the court planned on evaluating and determining the amount of money that each former patient would be receiving.
In July, the John Hopkins Hospital agreed to pay $190 million to the former patients of gynecologist, Dr. Nikita Levy, who was fired from an affiliated clinic in February 2013 after being found guilty of taking photographs and recording videos of his patients without their knowledge, using a camera pen. Levy committed suicide shortly after the controversy. This settlement is one of the largest amounts recorded in the United States to resolve a sexual misdemeanor by a physician. The case, however, was not able to amount to any criminal charges after investigators determined that the images were not shared or distributed by Levy.
The objection to the settlement states that the proposed amount, which is still subject to final approval, was being subjected to "excessive" legal fees. The women also criticized the method of evaluation process. Currently, the court states that each of the 8,000 plaintiffs has to be interviewed by a team of lawyers and psychiatrists so they can later be categorized based on level of trauma they received from the incident. Each category would then determine the amount of money that they will receive. A part of the objection reads, "The proposed agreement fails to specify the high and low range of recovery for each category. Therefore, claimants have no ability to access the fairness and reasonableness of the likely recovery to which they maybe entitled."