A respected Manhattan emergency room doctor has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a patient while she was sedated by morphine.
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After she came to, following the doctor visit, the woman apparently kept DNA evidence from the doctor that was on her gown, on her face and on her abdomen.
Sources say that the first victim, 29, had been given a dose of morphine by nurses before Newman came to check on her. She alleged that he then gave her an additional dose and she lost consciousness but could hear him moving her gurney to another area.
According to the Daily News, the patient said that “Newman started fondling her breasts” when examining her right side and then “moved her bed away from the wall and positioned himself with his back toward the patient”.
A second woman is now believed to have come forward to accuse Dr Newman, 45, of sexual assault, the Daily News reported. Newman is charged with assault, two counts of sexual abuse and facilitating a sexual offense.
Mount Sinai Hospital said in a statement Tuesday that Newman was suspended once the NYPD began investigating the claims.
In addition, a second accuser has emerged, alleging she was sexually attacked by Newman in September, ABC 7 noted.
Newman has, in the past, been a vocal proponent of trusting doctor-patient relationships. It’s jacket describes it as a “new paradigm to rebuild the bridge between physicians and their patients”.
Even though Newman had yet to be charged, the allegations were serious enough to bar him from continuing to work at Mount Sinai pending an outcome.
In a statement, Mount Sinai says, “We take the nature of these allegations very seriously and continue to conduct our own extensive internal inquiry”.
She reportedly told police she wiped the substance off with her gown before placing it in a plastic bag along with her bedding.
In the ABC 7 video below shot Tuesday as the doctor and his lawyer approached the station, Newman did not speak to reporters.
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He was being held on $150,000 bail, and Wing said it’s likely he’ll make bail on Wednesday.
