What to Know
A visit to the gynecologist is likely not anyone’s favorite part of the day, but those appointments are crucial for women’s healthcare. Because gynecologists deal with very intimate parts of a woman’s body, trust and comfort are paramount to the patient’s relationship with her doctor.
Sanjeev Kumar, a Mayo Clinic-trained gynecological oncologist, was at the top of his field practicing in Tennessee. His patients trusted that he would help them through extremely difficult seasons of their lives. Kumar not only defied that trust, but he also put patients’ health in danger by reusing dirty instruments during procedures. He’ll spend 20 years in federal prison for his crimes.
Kumar performed thousands of in-office procedures.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, evidence at trial showed that Kumar operated at Poplar Avenue Clinic, a women’s health clinic in Memphis.
The doctor reportedly performed thousands of in-office hysteroscopies with biopsy using Food and Drug Administration-approved devices. During the procedure, a doctor inserts a hysteroscope into the vagina, pushes it through the cervix, and into the uterus to take a sample of endometrial lining. The procedure uses a combination of FDA-approved single- and multi-use tools.
The FDA requires a very specific sterilization process for multi-use instruments.
Evidence proved to a jury that Kumar did not properly follow the manufacturer’s instructions for disinfecting the reusable tools. He routinely put patients at risk using dirty equipment in more than 15,000 biopsy procedures on Medicare and Medicaid patients between September of 2019 and April of 2024.
“This defendant used his medical license to target a vulnerable population of women seeking treatment in extremely personal and intimate procedures. He was motivated by greed, disregarded clear medical risks, and caused significant physical and psychological harm to his victim-patients. No punishment is enough to achieve justice in this horrific case, but we hope that this 20-year sentence will send a strong message of deterrence while holding Kumar accountable for his crimes,” United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee D. Michael Dunavant shared in a news release.
Some of Kumar’s patients continue to suffer due to his negligence.
Former patient Quita Wherry told ABC 24 she still feels trauma from her experience with Kumar.
“I’m still in pain,” Quita Wherry told the outlet. “The problem has come back. There’s still no findings of cancer, but the issue is still there. The pain is still there.”
Prosecutors claim Kumar cared only about money. He billed $41 million for the procedures and netted $4.8 million from Medicare and Medicaid alone.
“He was motivated by greed, disregarded clear medical risks, and caused significant physical and psychological harm to his victim-patients,” Dunavant shared. “No punishment is enough to achieve justice in this horrific case, but we hope that this 20-year sentence will send a strong message of deterrence while holding Kumar accountable for his crimes.”
A federal jury found Kumar guilty of eight counts of adulteration of medical devices, 16 counts of misbranding medical devices, and six counts of health care fraud.
He will spend 20 years in federal prison followed by two years of supervised probation.
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