On February 18th of this year, Dr. Melvin Levine, a pediatrician who worked at Children’s Hospital Boston, was found dead, by a gunshot wound to the head, in the woods surrounding his North Carolina home. The death came a day after a class action lawsuit was filed against him for medical malpractice and sexual abuse of at least 40 male patients in the years between 1966 and 1985. Last week, Dr. Levine’s death was ruled a suicide.
Men Come Forward Claiming Abuse By Levine
Dr. Levine had long been accused of sexually abusing of his male patients, but always maintained his innocence. But not long ago, men began to come forward, describing incidents where they had seen Dr. Levine as children and been molested in his office. Some spoke of fondling during routine check-ups, and others even claim that Dr. Levine performed oral sex on them.
Christopher Dean is a 50 year old architect in Rossindale, Mass and was, at one time, a patient of Dr. Levine. Dean says the molestation occurred when Dr. Levine saw him in his elementary school nurse’s office. Levine fondled him and said he’d like to see him as a regular patient. A young Christopher left the office in tears, but never told anyone. When he was 25, Christopher’s mother told him that Levine had molested 2 young sons of a friend of hers and had relocated to North Carolina, probably fleeing from allegations. When his mother asked him, Christopher was so humiliated about what happened years before, that he lied to her and held that Levine never touched him. He finally told his mother the truth last week, and has yet to tell his father.
Medical Malpractice Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia
Medical malpractice in the form of bad judgments and medical negligence is awful, but medical malpractice in the form of deliberate abuse is depraved. Dr. Levine, if guilty, engaged in disturbing and life-changing actions from a place of trust and power. And his guilt doesn’t look any less likely after his suicide this past week.
If you or a loved one have suffered medical malpractice of any kind at the hands of an abusive or negligent medical provider, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia. Let the medical malpractice attorneys at the Mininno Law Office earn you the full and fair compensation you need and deserve.
The Ginisi’s (Lauren, 59 and Joseph, 63) filed suit three years ago, after Joseph suffered multiple misdiagnoses at St. Vincent’s. In 2004, Joe Ginisi called his wife Laura complaining of feeling lighted headed and dizzy. At the hospital, doctors diagnosed him with vertigo and sent him home with a prescription and an order to follow-up. By February 5, his condition had worsened. He couldn’t speak on his own, and was going blind.