Doctor stops seeing patients after lawsuit
Professor faces abuse allegations
By: Andrew Dunn, Senior Writer
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: University
A UNC pediatrics doctor has stopped seeing patients after being accused of abusing seven child patients between 1967 and 1984.
Dr. Melvin D. Levine, 68, was sued for an alleged pattern of sexual and physical abuse against boys as young as 5 throughout the 17-year span.
Children's Hospital Boston - where Levine worked in that time period - also is named in the suit for failing to properly supervise Levine, according to the lawsuit filed in Suffolk County, Mass.
Levine, who has been a UNC professor of pediatrics since 1987, denied the claims but volunteered this week to stop seeing patients until the lawsuit is resolved, UNC Hospitals spokesman Tom Hughes said.
Levine retired in 2006 but continues to see a few patients per month as an adjunct professor.
"Dr. Mel Levine has provided pediatric care to more than 15,000 children over 40 years and categorically denies that he has ever been abusive in any way toward any patient," Levine's lawyer, Edward Mahoney, said in a prepared statement.
"Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misrepresented memories from decades past and questions the motivations."
UNC officials also said they know of no complaints.
"No complaints have been levied against Dr. Levine in relation to his work at UNC," said Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing for the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health Care.
Although referred to as John Doe No. 5 in the lawsuit, the plaintiff is described as a 36-year-old man who saw Levine for psychotherapy treatment beginning when he was 8 years old.
The suit claims that Levine performed "repeated, but unnecessary, physical examinations" which included "numerous acts of genital fondling, masturbation and other attempted and threatened acts of assault" during the five years Levine treated him.
The plaintiff was "unable to recall and to understand the damage" caused by the incidents until February 2006, the suit states.
Now the plaintiff has formally demanded a trial.
This lawsuit is not the first sexual abuse suit Levine has faced.
Five other men have filed lawsuits with similar allegations, four in Suffolk County. One of the lawsuits, filed in federal court in 1988, was thrown out three years later.
Another man complained to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine in 1993, but charges were later dismissed.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Dr. Melvin D. Levine, 68, was sued for an alleged pattern of sexual and physical abuse against boys as young as 5 throughout the 17-year span.
Children's Hospital Boston - where Levine worked in that time period - also is named in the suit for failing to properly supervise Levine, according to the lawsuit filed in Suffolk County, Mass.
Levine, who has been a UNC professor of pediatrics since 1987, denied the claims but volunteered this week to stop seeing patients until the lawsuit is resolved, UNC Hospitals spokesman Tom Hughes said.
Levine retired in 2006 but continues to see a few patients per month as an adjunct professor.
"Dr. Mel Levine has provided pediatric care to more than 15,000 children over 40 years and categorically denies that he has ever been abusive in any way toward any patient," Levine's lawyer, Edward Mahoney, said in a prepared statement.
"Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misrepresented memories from decades past and questions the motivations."
UNC officials also said they know of no complaints.
"No complaints have been levied against Dr. Levine in relation to his work at UNC," said Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing for the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health Care.
Although referred to as John Doe No. 5 in the lawsuit, the plaintiff is described as a 36-year-old man who saw Levine for psychotherapy treatment beginning when he was 8 years old.
The suit claims that Levine performed "repeated, but unnecessary, physical examinations" which included "numerous acts of genital fondling, masturbation and other attempted and threatened acts of assault" during the five years Levine treated him.
The plaintiff was "unable to recall and to understand the damage" caused by the incidents until February 2006, the suit states.
Now the plaintiff has formally demanded a trial.
This lawsuit is not the first sexual abuse suit Levine has faced.
Five other men have filed lawsuits with similar allegations, four in Suffolk County. One of the lawsuits, filed in federal court in 1988, was thrown out three years later.
Another man complained to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine in 1993, but charges were later dismissed.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
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