(WXYZ) — Years before a once-renowned cancer doctor paid nearly $800,000 to resolve claims that he performed unnecessary radical hysterectomies, the physician faced a series of controversies and lawsuits.
As 7 Action News first reported in September, the longtime Michigan cancer doctor has been accused by physicians, former patients, state regulators and federal prosecutors of performing unnecessary surgeries, putting scores of patients at risk of needless complications.
Donna Cain is one of dozens of former patients of Dr. Malviya who say they never knew the highly-regarded gynecological oncologist they turned to had been found repeatedly to be putting his own patients at risk.
“I think it’s something they should have told us, should have warned us,” Cain says. “Because myself and I’m sure so many other women — we went through hell.”
Expert reviews done for Ascension Hospital, state watchdogs and the Department of Justice found that Malviya regularly performed unnecessary procedures years before he would stop practicing medicine.
“He took everything,” recalled former patient Tracey Wolfe. “He took both ovaries. He took my uterus. He took everything out.”
Wolfe was a patient of Malviya’s in 2018. Like Donna Cain, she never had cancer but said Malviya used the fear of cancer to encourage her to undergo a total hysterectomy.
Now looking back, she says the doctor behaved in ways that were concerning, like the strange hours he kept.
Wolfe said her appointments with Malviya “would sometimes be at 9 o’clock at night, 10 o’clock at night.”
She was also troubled at how alert he seemed during procedures.
“As he was taking my staples out, he was falling asleep,” she said. “And I said, 'Dr. Malviya, you’re falling asleep!' He opened his eyes and then he kept taking out my staples.”
Other patients told the same story.
“(During) three visits, he fell asleep,” Donna Cain said. “Two of those visits were with my husband,” she said.
“He’s sleepy, he’s sleeping. What if he has a surgery in the morning?”
To be clear, there are patients of Malviya’s who have only good things to say about the longtime physician, including some who credit him with keeping them alive.
But court records reveal other patients who have a different story to tell, including one man who believes his wife’s death was caused Malviya.
“I wish that guy would be locked up,” Simon Pienton said. "So he can feel what it’s like to have your life ripped out from underneath you.”
Pienton knew Malviya’s name long before federal prosecutors ever did.
In 2006, his wife Kimberly was scheduled for an exploratory surgery after doctors thought she had a cyst on one of her ovaries. At the time, she was four months pregnant.
“The doctors told me… it’s going be an hour. She’ll be in, she’ll be out within an hour,” Simon Pienton recalled. “You’ll be in there, seeing her in recovery.”
But when doctors performed the surgery, they saw that the cyst was nowhere near her ovary.
One physician, according to depositions, said he would leave the cyst alone. But when Malviya was consulted, he wanted to do a biopsy.
According to a lawsuit, while Malviya tried to drain the cyst, something went terribly wrong and Kimberly Pienton began to hemorrhage.
“They told me she had two massive heart attacks,” her husband recalled. “They had to split her chest open to massage her heart. Said they couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
Doctors, including Malviya, tried for hours to stop the bleeding but could not. Kimberly and the 16-week-old fetus she was carrying were both pronounced dead.
Malviya and his colleagues were sued, ultimately settling the case for $1.4 million.
When the cyst was finally tested, according to depositions, it did not show evidence of cancer.
“My son was there at the beginning,” Simon Pienton said, recalling the last time his son saw his mother alive. “Give mom a kiss goodbye. Said we’ll see you in an hour, tell mom we’ll see you in an hour. Now how am I going to go home now and tell him mom ain’t coming home?”
The cause of death, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner, was intraoperative vascular injury.
Malviya did not face discipline from the state and would continue to practice medicine for the next 15 years, until retiring last year.
His license remains in good standing today.
“Obviously, you don’t know what you’re doing,” Simon Pienton said. “If you knew what you were doing, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Both Malviya and his attorney declined requests for an on-camera interview, but released a statement through spokesman Michael Layne:
“Vinay K. Malviya, M.D., a highly respected gynecologic oncologist, vigorously denies the spurious allegations made against him, which are allegations only. Neither Dr. Malviya nor his attorney will comment on the specifics of any patient matter due to HIPAA Rules and Regulations. After a nearly four-decade career of providing highly specialized, dedicated and loving care to thousands of patients - most referred after treatment from other respected medical professionals in cancer and gynecology care - Dr. Malviya is deeply saddened that his reputation has come under question. He takes great satisfaction in knowing so many of his former patients attribute their longevity and well-being to his dedicated care.”
Related: Ex-patients of Michigan cancer doctor outraged warnings weren't shared
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.