Fort Myers doctor accused of sexually assaulting HealthPark patient during procedure

A south Fort Myers gastroenterologist faces charges in connection with reported sexual assaults on a HealthPark Medical Center patient in May.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, a nurse witnessed Dr. Asif Choudhury, 55, involved in two assaults on a patient and contacted supervisors, who then reported it to authorities.

Though the alleged assault was reported to unspecified hospital staffers, it did not come to the attention of the hospital's legal team and the sheriff's office until November. HealthPark is operated by the public Lee Health hospital system.

Additional details of the allegations were not immediately available.

Lee Health spokeswoman Mary Briggs said in an email: "Lee Health launched an investigation as soon as the allegations were brought forward. Unfortunately there was a gap in communication to the individuals who are responsible for reporting. Since then, we have retrained our leaders on the appropriate action steps to take in reporting incidents to assure it does not happen again."   

Choudhury practices at Florida Digestive Care, located at 14131 Metropolis Ave., Suite 101, near Gulf Coast Medical Center. Its treatments include colonoscopies and others related to digestive system health.

The door to Florida Digestive Care was locked Friday afternoon, and no clinic employees were visible inside the front lobby.

Choudhury has hospital privileges at, but is not employed by, Lee Memorial Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center and Lehigh Regional Medical Center. He has previously held medical licenses in New York, Minnesota and North Dakota.

His hospital privileges are now in the process of being revoked, and he is not allowed on the premises, said Briggs. She added in a prepared statement:

"The safety and well-being of our patients is our highest priority. When an allegation of any type of misconduct is made, our policy is to promptly respond, report the matter to the appropriate authorities and fully cooperate with law enforcement. The alleged incident was reported because an employee spoke up. We thank our staff for their efforts to protect our patients."

The only professional discipline on Choudhury's public record happened in 2005 in Florida, when he was cited for performing an endoscopy on the wrong patient at the now-shuttered Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center.

In an endoscopy, a doctor uses a thin tube to examine the esophagus, stomach and part of the bowels. 

He was fined $10,000 and ordered to take five hours of training.

The Florida Department of Health does not necessarily consider an arrest and criminal accusation, without a conviction, grounds to suspend or revoke a license, said spokesman Brad Dalton. 

"That being said, anytime that we discover that a licensed practitioner has been arrested we begin a preliminary investigation and monitor the situation for a conviction," Dalton said. "We also look into the actions that led to the arrest to see if there are any violations where the department has regulatory authority."

Choudhury was brought to the Lee County Jail on Friday, where he remained as of Friday afternoon.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit and the state attorney’s office investigated the case.

Follow this reporter on Twitter: @FrankGluck

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