Authorities in Texas have arrested a doctor for allegedly making secret recordings of some of his patients as he examined them.
Dr. Blaine McGraw, is charged by the U.S. Army with indecent visual recording as well as conduct unbecoming of an officer, willful disobedience of a superior officer and making a false statement.
A gynecologist, McGraw’s alleged crimes happened while he was working at an army hospital in Fort Hood.
The 47-year-old had previously worked at the Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.
Calls to the Army for comment were not returned Wednesday, December 10.
According to local reports, including those from the Honolulu Star Advertiser and Hawaii News Now, McGraw is alleged to have recorded dozens of his patients within the last year as he performed their medical exams at Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas.
He’s also accused of inappropriate touching of his patients and performing unnecessary procedures.
McGraw is being held in a Texas county jail.
His attorney briefly addressed reporters on Tuesday, December 9, calling the accusations grossly exaggerated.
One of McGraw’s alleged victims was a patient of his at Tripler Army Medical Center, where the doctor started as an intern in 2019. He was later the center’s resident gynecologist, a position he held until 2023.
“It makes my clients feel a lot more comfortable, know that the individual that sexually assaulted them is not going to be running into them at the local Walmart,” explained Andrew Cobos, a Texas attorney who is representing alleged victims. “That was a concern they had and a valid concern that needed to be addressed.”
The Texas hospital is said to be cooperating with investigators.
Last month, Tripler revealed it would be notifying 1,600 of McGraw’s Hawaiian patients, with access to resources about the investigation and a way to get answers to their questions.
After going public with with her past sexual assault in 2018, Connie Chung further discussed the incident in her new memoir. “I was sexually molested by our trusted family doctor, but what made this monster even more reprehensible was that he was the very doctor who had delivered me on August 20, 1946,” Chung, 78, […]
Prior to his arrest, McGraw was the focus of a months-long investigation; he was arrested on Wednesday, December 3.
A patient complaint against the doctor prompted the criminal probe.
It was unclear Wednesday if the doctor had entered pleas to the charges he faces. His lawyer could not be reached for comment.
At the moment, McGraw is being sued by over 70 survivors who have filed claims so far.
Last month, Cobos filed a civil lawsuit against McGraw claiming the complaints against him began at Tripler in 2019. However, the suit contends, Army leadership allegedly “dismissed the warnings, laughed off credible allegations, and allowed McGraw to continue practicing.”
The suit alleges McGraw has a pattern of violating his patients.
Cobos says more women have been coming forward with claims against the disgraced doctor.
“We have victims who gave us statements who say they asked for their husbands to be in the room with them during the appointment, and the Army turned them down,” said Cobos, speaking to Hawaii News Now. “They said, ‘No, your husband is going to have to wait in the waiting room during this procedure,’” he added. “They were left alone with Dr. McGraw to be vulnerable.”
One alleged victim accused McGraw of recording her pelvic examination on his cell phone.
“This petition alleges a catastrophic failure of leadership that allowed a predator to operate with impunity inside a military hospital,” said Cobos. “These women were not just failed by a single doctor; they were failed by the very institution sworn to protect them.”