Officials at the base announced on Oct. 28 that a doctor had been suspended Oct. 17 from the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center following a report of misconduct from a patient. (Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center)
An Army spouse filed a lawsuit Monday accusing her doctor at Fort Hood of groping her and recording a medical exam with his phone’s video camera without permission, according to court records.
The woman, who is identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, described how the gynecologist, Maj. Blaine McGraw, pretended to take a call on his phone, then placed the phone in the breast pocket of his clothing. From there, his phone recorded a breast and pelvic exam he conducted on the woman, according to the 13-page lawsuit.
She requested a jury trial and at least $1 million in damages for invasion of privacy, sexual assault and negligence.
Doe also described how McGraw over several appointments blurred the lines of professional conduct by calling her after hours to discuss topics unrelated to her medical care, telling her he had seen all of her tattoos following sedation for a procedure that should not have allowed him access to her upper body, and forcing her to undergo a breast exam when it was not related to her visit.
“This lawsuit is the first step in shining a light on this misconduct and restoring justice — holding Blaine McGraw personally accountable and ensuring he is not given any more access or opportunity to harm others,” according to the lawsuit petition filed in Bell County, where Fort Hood is located in central Texas.
Officials at the base announced on Oct. 28 that a doctor had been suspended Oct. 17 from the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center following a report of misconduct from a patient.
“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) began an investigation within hours into the former medical provider. The investigation is ongoing,” Fort Hood said Monday in a statement.
Base officials have not confirmed McGraw’s name, though the date of the suspension provided by the base and the lawsuit match.
As part of the investigation, roughly 1,400 patients at Fort Hood were sent letters about the allegations, and more than 25 were interviewed by criminal investigators, according to a military official familiar with the case but not authorized to speak publicly.
At least one other law firm, National Trial Law, said Wednesday it has filed an administrative claim with the Army on behalf of a Fort Hood patient of McGraw’s. Another law firm, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, said last week it is representing additional patients with the intention of filing claims with the Army.
Administrative claims are authorized under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which permits people to bring a legal claim against the government. It is outside the public court system. The claim filed by Doe is directly against McGraw and does not name the Army or any other federal agency.
Doe learned she had been secretly recorded after being contacted by CID, according to the lawsuit. The video of her was found among similar recordings involving multiple patients. Investigators could not confirm to her whether McGraw shared the photographs or videos.
McGraw, 47, graduated from East Tennessee State University’s James H. Quillen College of Medicine in 2019, according to online medical license records. He has an active medical license from Hawaii and no documented actions from the state medical board.
Since his suspension, McGraw has entered an in-patient care facility for an unspecified amount of time, according to Bell County records related to a speeding ticket the doctor received back in August. The Army contacted the court Oct. 28, when it became clear he would miss an approaching court date for driving his pickup truck 92 mph where the speed limit was 65.
An attorney for McGraw did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Andrew Cobos, a Houston-based attorney representing Doe and more than 50 other women who were patients of McGraw, said the victims want to see change from the Army.
“They do not want this to happen to other women,” he said.
His clients include military spouses and service members under McGraw’s care at Fort Hood’s hospital as well as at McGraw’s previous duty station Tripler Army Medical Center at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Hospital officials at Tripler “laughed off” a patient’s report that McGraw recorded her during an exam without permission, according to the lawsuit.
The Army and Tripler did not respond to a request for comment.
Cobos said his investigation has found systemic, bureaucratic issues that point to an “organizational failure,” to include the lack of a requirement for a chaperone or nurse to be present during exams.
“We want for a serious investigation this time that actually has reform that actually makes a meaningful difference, and not one that is just lip service by the Army,” he said.
The misconduct also comes 10 months after the conviction of Maj. Michael Stockin, an Army doctor who sexually abused 41 patients at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. He was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison.
Affected patients have filed legal claims that the Army did not immediately remove Stockin from his position after receiving complaints about his behavior, which allowed him to harm more people.
