One girl alleged in a lawsuit that an Irvine physician smirked and laughed whereas opening a paper vest she was carrying to reveal and fondle her breasts.
One other girl stated within the lawsuit that the identical doctor stared at her uncovered chest and touched her breasts, saying that he was “feeling for [her] liver” and declaring that he was aroused throughout an examination.
These and a number of other different ladies through the years have complained about Dr. John Hoefs’ bodily exams — in on-line boards, to his workplaces and to the California Medical Board — however he was allowed to proceed working till his latest arrest, courtroom data and police studies reviewed by The Occasions point out.
Fifteen ladies filed a civil lawsuit this week alleging that Hoefs, 79, coerced them to reveal their breasts below the guise of respectable medical remedy and in a number of situations groped them whereas analyzing them for situations associated to their liver. The abuse, which attorneys for the ladies allege dates to 2006, continued till Hoefs was arrested this 12 months, in keeping with the lawsuit.
“Lots of the feminine sufferers who have been sexually abused by Hoefs have been preventing for his or her lives towards aggressive types of liver most cancers and hepatitis on the time they sought remedy …” the lawsuit states. “When, in return, Hoefs viciously violated that belief and confidence in an effort to sexually abuse these extraordinarily susceptible sufferers.”
The lawsuit, filed Monday, additionally names Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and the Regents of the College of California system, which Hoefs was affiliated with through the time the abuse allegedly occurred.
Attorneys representing the ladies wrote within the lawsuit that UCI Medical Heart and Hoag “hid quite a few complaints lodged by feminine sufferers about Hoefs’ sexual abuse” and failed to forestall the sexual abuse of “dozens of susceptible feminine sufferers.”
“Hoag and the Regents knew and positively ought to have recognized that Hoefs posed a threat of sexual abuse to sufferers … as early as 2017 when complaints of such abuse have been made to the California Medical Board, in addition to quite a few complaints posted onto a number of public on-line boards,” the lawsuit states.
Representatives for Hoag and UCI Medical Heart couldn’t be reached for remark Friday. Hoag wrote in an announcement to the Orange County Register that Hoefs was not its worker however leased workplace area in a constructing owned by Hoag.
“Upon studying of his arrest, Hoag’s medical workers instantly suspended his hospital privileges and Hoag suspended entry to his leased area,” Hoag informed the newspaper.
Orange County prosecutors charged Hoefs this 12 months with 17 felony counts of sexual battery by fraud and three felony counts of sexual battery. He has pleaded not responsible to all fees and was launched from custody on a $500,000 bond, in keeping with Orange County Superior Courtroom data.
Hoefs’ lawyer, Kate Corrigan, declined to remark concerning the allegations towards her consumer when reached on Friday, however stated she’s receiving discovery from prosecutors and is reviewing particulars of the case.
In a dialog in March with Irvine Police Det. Rebecca Steen, Hoefs denied touching sufferers’ breasts throughout exams.
“Hoefs informed me he was extraordinarily stunned by the allegations,” Steen wrote in a police report. “He additionally expressed frustration with the state of affairs and stated he has by no means harmed anybody.”
After Hoefs’ arrest earlier this 12 months, the California Medical Board suspended his medical license and prohibited him from having any contact with present, former or potential sufferers, in keeping with a suspension order. Nevertheless, the medical board permitted Hoefs to proceed working as medical director for Hepatiq Inc., a medical diagnostic software program company.
A lady who was in her 40s when she sought remedy from Hoefs in 2016 and 2017 stated he required her to take away all of her clothes from the waist up throughout exams and fondled her breasts with out carrying gloves, in keeping with the civil lawsuit. She turned suspicious after this occurred at a number of appointments and reported the conduct to the state medical board in October 2017.
It isn’t clear what motion, if any, the medical board took on the time. A consultant for the board didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
One other girl had proven Hoefs a photograph of a bruise she had in an effort to hunt his medical opinion throughout a go to to his workplace. He responded, in keeping with the lawsuit, that he “didn’t have time to take a look at images until they have been of her in a bikini.”
Irvine police started investigating the physician in October 2022 after they obtained a report from a girl who alleged Hoefs touched her breasts at almost each appointment she’d had with him over the course of two years, in keeping with a police report obtained by The Occasions.
Whereas listening to her coronary heart and lungs, Hoefs would allegedly “flick off her medical robe totally exposing her breasts for the rest of the examination,” the police report states.
“She thought it was bizarre the primary time he did it, however after the second time, she thought it should be a part of the examination,” Officer Monica Williams wrote within the report.
However throughout an appointment in October 2022, the girl informed officers she turned uncomfortable when Hoefs requested her to maneuver nearer to him whereas discussing the outcomes of her examination and requested her about her life. He additionally talked about intercourse in faculties and transgender points, in keeping with the report.
Later, she posted on a Fb group for people with liver points asking if it was regular for his or her breasts to be touched throughout an examination. Members of the group stated that it wasn’t regular. The girl additionally informed Hoag Hospital concerning the physician’s conduct, in keeping with the police report.
On-line critiques, that are detailed within the police report, confirmed that a number of ladies had made related complaints about Hoefs. One girl wrote on Yelp that the physician “grabbed my breasts throughout an examination and he informed me I wasn’t going to dwell lengthy sufficient to lift my then 2 12 months outdated son — my [s]on is now 28!”
