NORFOLK, Va. — A federal jury found Javaid Perwaiz guilty Monday, the fourth day of deliberations in his case.
The jurors had 800 pieces of evidence and 8,000 medical documents to consider. They found Perez guilty of 52 of the 61 charges he faced.
Prosecutors said he falsified hysteroscopies and colposcopies, sterilization consent forms, estimated delivery dates, patient symptoms, patient statements, and forced cancer scares. The argument was that Perwaiz did all of that so he could perform more procedures, claim more on insurance forms, and have more money for a “lavish lifestyle.”
Perwaiz was enrolled as a provider with multiple health insurance companies including Medicare, Medicaid, and Anthem.
The indictment against him said Perwaiz was an outlier for in-office diagnostic hysteroscopics. A medical analysis showed he performed 87 in-office hysteroscopics in 2017. The next leading provider performed six that year.
Dozens of the charges he will now serve time for were linked to claims from his former patients. Many of them took the stand during the trial, including Dairyail Bishop.
“It is hard to sit in front of someone who has done so many surgeries on you and that you found out that that there are so many lies in your record,” said Bishop.
She said she went to Perwaiz for a tubal-ligation surgery, with the expectation she could have a reversal surgery and kids later.
Bishop said, “I do know that out of pocket, I had to pay $7,500 for my reversal.”
Now she’s tried over and over again to have kids. She said she’s had, “four miscarriages since. So, it hasn’t been a successful pregnancy.”
During the court case, each patient with a story like hers went by their first and last initials.
The jury found Perwaiz guilty in D.B.’s claim for “a false statement in health care matters.”
“I think it’s great. I think it helps us, the victims, have somewhat some type of closure. I know we can’t get the justice that we want. But at least we’re seeing something, something positive on our end,” said Bishop.
Prior to this case, Perwaiz was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia of two counts of felony tax evasion in 1996. That included him trying to claim the purchase of a Ferrari, by labeling it as an ultrasound machine.
A judge sentenced him to five years of probation and more.
In 1983, Maryview Hospital terminated his privileges. An indictment shows it was due to poor clinical judgment, unnecessary surgery, lack of documentation, and discrepancies in recordkeeping.
Perwaiz’s Virginia medical license was suspended from April 1996 to about July 1996, as a result of his felony tax convictions that same year.
His medical license was later reinstated with stipulations, and Perwaiz returned to the staff at Maryview Hospital in 1997, with a monitoring program in place for his surgical cases.
In September of 1999, the Virginia Department of Health Professions decided Perwaiz followed all of the conditions. So, it ended his probation.
During closing arguments on Nov. 4, Perwaiz’s attorney claimed his client didn’t deny making mistakes on paperwork and was transparent about changing dates on medical documents, but he did it to help patients and was not scheming as federal prosecutors claim.
Some charges he faces carry a possible sentence of 10 to 20 years. Perwaiz's sentencing is scheduled for March 31, 2021.