LOS ANGELES _ The University of California, Los Angeles was under scrutiny Monday over its handling of a former gynecologist who was charged with sexual battery and exploitation during his treatment of two patients at a university facility.
UCLA acknowledged first receiving a complaint against Dr. James Mason Heaps in 2017 and placed him on leave the following year but did not publicize his reason for departure from the university until this week. That decision is now the subject of an internal review, UCLA said. The university has also asked other students and patients who believe they were treated inappropriately by Heaps to come forward.
"We are deeply sorry for this," Rhonda Curry, a UCLA Health spokeswoman said. "We know we could have done better. ... We want and need to hear from other possible patients."
The charges against Heaps became public Monday after he surrendered to law enforcement and later pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles courtroom. His attorney said Heaps did nothing wrong and will fight the charges.
"These are baseless allegations," attorney Tracy Green said. "He's a respected, talented and thorough gynecological oncologist who always sought to treat his patients with dignity and respect."
The arrest comes more than a year after the University of Southern California was rocked by allegations that its former campus gynecologist acted inappropriately toward hundreds of students for nearly three decades. The Los Angeles Times revealed that USC allowed Dr. George Tyndall to leave the university with a settlement and without notifying authorities or his patients. Tyndall has denied the allegations, which are the subject of a criminal investigation.
UCLA officials apologized to the campus community and vowed to review how such complaints will be handled in the future.
"Sexual abuse in any form is unacceptable and represents an inexcusable breach of the physician-patient relationship," UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block and Vice Chancellor John Mazziotta, UCLA Health chief executive, said in a joint statement. "We are deeply sorry that a former UCLA physician violated our policies and standards, our trust and the trust of his patients."
Prosecutors have charged Heaps with two counts of sexual battery by fraud and one count of sexual exploitation in connection with acts involving two patients.
Heaps worked part time at the UCLA student health center from about 1983 to 2010, was hired by UCLA Health in 2014 and held medical staff privileges at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center from 1988 to 2018, according to the university.
Curry said the university launched an internal investigation after receiving a patient complaint in December 2017 of inappropriate and medically unnecessary touching and comments.
During the course of its investigation, the university identified two other patients who had complained about Heaps: one in 2014, and another in 2015. Curry said the university identified only one student: The 2015 complaint was made on Yelp and concerned a patient in 2008 who said she was a student at the time of the appointment.
UCLA notified Heaps in April 2018 that he would not be reappointed, Curry said. In June, he was placed on leave and announced his retirement later that month.
UCLA notified the medical board about Heaps on June 14, 2018 _ about a month after the Times first published its investigation about Tyndall. The university placed a second report with the board in March 2019.
Curry said the university has settled claims made by one of Heaps' former patients but could not provide the dollar amount of the settlement.
According to prosecutors, another patient who saw Heaps while the university was investigating him _ her appointment was on Feb. 28, 2018 _ later reported him for inappropriate behavior.
Heaps' attorney said one of the patients who Heaps is accused of victimizing saw him in 2017 and reported having severe pelvic pain. During the appointment, Green said that Heaps asked about the patient's genital piercing, examined the patient's lower back, and the patient accused Heaps of touching her butt.
Green said Heaps was looking at her body to identify the reason for her pelvic pain. That patient also accused Heaps of touching her breasts inappropriately. Green said that Heaps only touched the patient's breasts to identify cysts or other specific problems, and insisted that his practice was in response to presented symptoms.
"Everything was done for a medical reason," Green said.
The patient who saw Heaps in February 2018 submitted a complaint about nine months later that alleged an inappropriate and uncomfortable appointment, Green said. That patient, who identified herself as a 48-year-old mother of three children, accused Heaps of improperly putting his fingers in her vagina, Green said.
Green said her client was blindsided by the charges and how UCLA handled it.
Heaps' medical license is current, according to the state medical board's website. His address on the medical board's website is listed as an office in a UCLA medical plaza near campus.
"The Board is unable to provide information on its complaints/investigations as both are confidential by law," board spokesman Carlos Villatoro said in an email. "However, the Board is aware of the allegations against Dr. Heaps and is looking into them."
Attorney John Manly, who has represented hundreds of plaintiffs on several high-profile sexual abuse cases, told the Times that at least one female patient has reported that she believes she was abused by Heaps at the student center when he was a doctor at UCLA in 1990s. The alleged victim has been interviewed by Los Angeles Police Department detectives.
The district attorney asked for $70,000 bail, and Heaps was released on his own recognizance.
Attorneys Darren Kavinoky and Jennifer McGrath, who are working with at least one of Heaps' former patients, said they were frustrated that Heaps was released.
"On behalf our clients, it feels offensive frankly, and it's like re-victimizing the victims," Kavinoky said. "We wish we would have been heard on that point."
