Tennessee gynecologist charged with performing unnecessary medical procedures

Audio By Carbonatix

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee gynecologist was arrested Friday and accused of performing unnecessary procedures on patients with re-used medical devices held under unsanitary conditions.

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, 44, is charged with enticing four people to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity, adulteration of medical devices, misbranding of medical devices and health care fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Memphis said.

Court records did not show if Kumar has a lawyer to represent him on the charges or speak on his behalf. There was no immediate response to a phone message left with his office.

Kumar's medical practice is located in Memphis. From September 2019 to June 2024, Kumar is alleged to have sexually abused women by conducting unnecessary medical procedures with devices held under unsanitary conditions and re-used on patients when they were required to be thrown away or properly reprocessed.

Kumar did not tell patients that he was re-using the devices, prosecutors said, and also billed Medicare and Medicaid as if the procedures were necessary and as if he had used a new or properly reprocessed device each time.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fondren said Kumar was consistently the top-paid provider in Tennessee for Medicare and Medicaid for hysteroscopy biopsies, which allow doctors to look inside the uterus.

Federal authorities said there could be more patients affected by Kumar’s alleged acts.

“The allegations indicate that Kumar acted as a predator in a white coat and used the cover of conducting medical examinations to put his patients at risk and enrich himself,” Fondren said in a statement.