DO NO HARM
DO NO HARM
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After years of injustice, victims of Dr. Aravind Sankar are finally heard
Six victims testifying to 25 years of abuse, plus 6 arrests, finally resulted in a prison sentence for Dr. Sankar. The victims included medical students, doctors & a nurse he met at work.
Kelsey McKay, an attorney who represents some of the women, said, “The system is broken. There is nothing in it for victims, and it has to change….First, they are silenced by the abuser and then silenced by the system that lets the case languish on and on.”
“You need some serious counseling on how to treat women. I believe their testimony is credible that you put these women through acts of violence that they never should have experienced."
- The Honorable Judge Chantal Eldridge
Judge for the 331st Criminal District Court, Bexar County, Texas
The system repeatedly failed to protect women from violent doctor
The six women who testified against Sankar at his recent probation hearing provided insight into how he was able to get away with the abuse for so long.
The violence included “choking them, biting them, dragging a woman by her hair and slamming her body to the ground, dragging a woman across the floor by her hair, screaming in a woman's face, and shoving a woman into a television.”
"He always blamed me for his violent behavior.” [Thompson] said.
“"If we're not able to stand up against intimate partner violence within our own licensing practices, how do we ever expect to address it as a public health issue?”
- Dr. Jessica Wilson, MD
Describing the failures of the Texas Medical Board
Survivors testify for legislation to protect public from dangerous doctors
The new law ensures that the public will have better access to doctors’ disciplinary and criminal history.
Despite arrests starting in 2014, it wasn’t until after Sankar’s 2022 felony conviction that Texas Medical Board (TMB) merely suspended his license, which can be reinstated at the Board’s discretion.
McKay testified at the hearing: “I personally witnessed one doctor in position of power has been allowed to continue to harm women… Texas Medical Board's failures have resulted in unforgivable abuses to other female healthcare workers."
“The fact that you’ve gone this far, this long, without any real consequences for your behavior is amazing to me.”
- The Honorable Judge Jennifer Pena
Judge for the 290th Criminal District Court, Bexar County, Texas
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If you or someone you know may be experiencing domestic violence, please know the resources.
The Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or TTY 1-800-787-3224