Patients suing Kaiser Permanente alleging doctor sexually assaulted them
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Patients of a doctor are suing Kaiser Permanente after they said he sexually assaulted them.
While no criminal charges have been filed against Dr. Bryan Williams, Kaiser Permanente said he was fired and the Maryland State Board of Physicians said his license was suspended.
On Thursday, attorneys in a class action lawsuit announced they were suing Kaiser Permanente on behalf of a dozen alleged victims.
The attorneys alleged Kaiser Permanente knew about the sexual assaults as early as May of 2013 and failed to act when the first allegation from a female patient was made against him.
The lawyers alleged the sexual misconduct was carried out during medical exams by the anesthesiologist and pain doctor at Kaiser Permanente in Largo and Kensington from 2010 to 2014.
"During that time Dr. Williams sexually assaulted at least a dozen women that we know of and some patients who we don't know of," attorney Hassan Murphy said. "Some women we know of were courageous enough to step forward. Those who we fear, multiple or dozens we suspect, unfortunately do not have the courage to step forward because they are victims who are ashamed of the stigma that comes from these types of crimes."
Kaiser Permanente released the following statement to FOX 5:
"The safety of our patients is our highest priority, and we have no tolerance for behavior that puts our patients at risk. We take allegations of misconduct very seriously, and we take action to protect our patients. In this case, we terminated the physician and reported him to the physician licensing boards in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. We have also reached out to each person who has raised allegations against Dr. Williams and sought to address their concerns."
FOX 5 reached out to the Prince George's County State's Attorney and the Montgomery County State's Attorney and they said they had no active investigation against Williams.
Attorneys did not disclose the amount of money they were seeking in the case against Kaiser Permanente.