Pediatrician accused of abuse says he'll stop seeing patients
A former Children's Hospital Boston pediatrician and best-selling author accused of sexually abusing boys in his care has stopped seeing patients at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, where he has taught for more than 20 years, university officials said today.
Dr. Melvin D. Levine, 68, Children's former chief of ambulatory pediatrics, has been accused of abusing at least seven boys who came to him for treatment, according to a civil lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court this week by an unnamed plaintiff who was 8 years old when the abuse allegedly occurred between 1980 and 1985.
"Dr. Levine has volunteered to stop seeing patients at UNC, at least until the lawsuits are resolved," said Tom Hughes, a spokesman for the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Hughes said the university has not received any complaints about Levine, who was a professor in the Department of Pediatrics there between 1987 and 2006. Since then, Hughes said he has held an unpaid appointment as an adjunct professor at the university, where he continued to see patients twice a month.
At a press conference in his Boston office today, Carmen L. Durso, who is representing five of the alleged victims, said he has received 21 calls since Monday from people who described themselves as victims or relatives of victims of Levine.
"I got a number of calls from mothers," Durso said. "Those mothers said to me, 'My son told me he didn't want to go back to see Dr. Levine, because he put his hands in my genitals area' …. Some said they were broken-hearted, because they didn't listen to their sons."
He said the North Carolina Medical Board contacted him as part of an investigation into Levine's record. Board officials declined to comment on the investigation. They did say that Levine has no record of any violations. They would not comment on whether any complaints have been filed against Levine.
Levine's Boston lawyer Edward Mahoney did not return calls yesterday. But earlier this week he said the doctor is innocent.
"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," said Mahoney, who questioned the motives of the lawyer filing the suit, in the statement. "He adamantly denies these claims. Dr. Levine is distressed about the distorted or misinterpreted memories from decades past and questions the motivations."
