Doctors Accused of Filming Unsuspecting Women May Have Risked Careers Over 'Compulsion' - East Idaho News
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Doctors Accused of Filming Unsuspecting Women May Have Risked Careers Over ‘Compulsion’

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GETTY W 102511 ArrestHandcuffed?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1344174654676Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A plastic surgeon to the stars and a New York City urologist have their careers on the line after they were arrested in separate incidents for allegedly filming women using hidden cameras.

Dr. Lance Everett Wyatt, a Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon, was arrested Thursday after a patient allegedly noticed a hidden camera in his office while she was disrobing. Earlier in the week in New York, Dr. Adam Levinson, a urologist, was arrested for allegedly filming up the skirts of two women while riding the subway.

Despite both suspects working in medicine, former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said the alleged acts can not be tied to the mens’ career choices.

“It really has nothing to do with career, it has nothing to do what they’ve sworn to uphold. It all has to do with a compulsion to capture these photographs privately and then view them later,” Garrett said.

A patient in Wyatt’s Los Angeles office noticed a hidden camera in August of 2011 and turned it over to police, said Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen A. Trutanich.

The plastic surgeon is also accused of touching one patient inappropriately, telling her it “served a professional purpose,” according to the complaint.

Wyatt faces four counts of surreptitious filming, one count of sexual battery and one count of battery, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office.

“Patients deserve to feel safe and secure while in the care of their physician,” Trutanich said. “Our charges allege that Dr. Wyatt violated that sacred trust and he should be held accountable.”

The Harvard-educated doctor, who has appeared on “The Doctors” and was featured on an episode of ABC News’ “20/20,” said he sees himself as a protector of patients.

“I always try to steer patients out of trouble,” he said on “20/20.”

Wyatt may have more victims, police said.

“There might be additional victims, so anyone who has any information needs to call the California Medical Board,” said a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.

In New York City, Dr. Adam Levinson, a respected urologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly used a pen camera to film up the skirts of two women during rush hour on the subway.

Sheldon Birthwright, who used to be a screener for the Transportation Security Administration, said he spotted Levinson on the subway and noticed he had something that looked like a pen hidden in a rolled-up newspaper as the doctor stood up near a woman in a miniskirt.

“Pen is directly inside [the newspaper], just on the thigh, calmly just moving it around…I guess he was getting different angle shots of whatever he was getting,” Birthwright told WABC.

Once he realized what Levinson was allegedly doing, Birthwright alerted officers, who arrested Levinson.

“It could have been anybody. It could have been my sisters, my pastor’s wife, my aunts,” Birthwright said. “I’m just thankful that he was caught.”

Levinson has been suspended from his position at Mt. Sinai during the pending investigation, the hospital said in a statement.

Neither doctor has had any complaints filed against them, according to online records.

They also appeared to be popular with patients. Both scored high marks in the trust category on HealthGrades.com, a site that allows patients to review their doctors.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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