MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) – A press conference was held Wednesday regarding a Mid-South obstetrician-gynecologist accused of sexually assaulting his patients.
Dr. Gregory Norwood of DeSoto County was indicted on at least 12 counts of sexual battery in March.
At Wednesday’s press conference, attorneys Murray Wells and Aaron Neglia claimed more victims will come forward, and their office alone has more victims not named in the indictment.
“Every time you find one you find another and another and someone else comes forward,” Wells said.
Wells’ office represents eight of the 12 women outlined in this indictment. He says his office has spoken with at least 11 more.
They also said the indictment shows a pattern of how long the alleged sexual assaults went on and noted the victims’ stories had many similarities. Many of the alleged assaults happened during routine exams.
“Every one tells kind of the same story about the mechanism that Dr. Norwood used to assault these victims,” Wells said.
Wells and Neglia plan to file a lawsuit against Baptist Memorial Hospital and Dr. Norwood, claiming the hospital knew what was happening and didn’t do enough to stop it.
“We’ve had clients that were assaulted in his personal office and Baptist Memorial Hospital in DeSoto County,” Neglia said.
Neglia says two victims worked at Baptist Memorial and claim to have told higher-ups about the alleged abuse.
A report obtained by WMC Action News 5 outlines multiple sexual assault allegations against the Mid-South OB/GYN.
The first allegation dates back to July 7, 2016 and the most recent allegation is dated at September 2018.
In September of 2018, the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure made the decision to temporarily suspend Dr. Norwood’s license. He is still licensed in Tennessee.
We reached out to the state to determine what if any impact this indictment will have on that license.
Wells says this indictment sheds light how long this alleged abuse lasted.
“Really playing on this person’s trust and this person’s beliefs that this is necessary until finally enough is enough,” Wells said. “Wait a second, this can’t be right.”
Wednesday afternoon, Baptist Memorial Hospital released this statement:
Our hearts go out to all of these women. The safety and security of our patients is our No. 1 concern, and we thoroughly investigate every physician who practices in any of our facilities. We were never made aware of most of the concerns about Dr. Norwood and we took immediate action when we were notified. The Southaven Police Department investigated one complaint and could not find anything to support the allegation. When another complaint came to Baptist DeSoto regarding a patient who had been seen at his clinic, the hospital’s chief medical officer reported it to the state board of licensure, which conducted an investigation and suspended his license. It is our understanding that all these incidents occurred in his office, most of them after he left Baptist Medical Group and was in private practice. We don’t know of any incidents that occurred at Baptist DeSoto.
Dr. Norwood’s attorney Tony Farese said his client maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty.