Doctor Who Owned FGM Clinic Still Has Medical License

Michigan medical board allowed both doctors in federal FGM case to keep their medical licenses.

The second doctor from America’s first FGM case, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, still has an active unrestricted Michigan medical license (No. 4301067384).¹

Dr. Fakhruddin Attar ran his clinic in Livonia, Michigan raided by FBI in April 2017 in what would become the first federal prosecution of female genital mutilation in United States history.² According to federal prosecutors, Attar had been allowing Dr. Jumana Nagarwala to perform FGM on young girls for over a decade, with his wife Farida assisting in the examination room.³

As I reported in January, the doctor who performed FGM, Dr. Nagarwala, still holds an active Michigan medical license (No. 4301071795) with no record of discipline.⁴⁵ The second doctor charged in America’s first FGM case, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, also has an active unrestricted Michigan medical license (No. 4301067384) with no record of discipline.⁶

Although the federal case against both Dr. Attar and Dr. Nagarwala collapsed on legal technicalities, state medical boards could still remove both doctors’ medical licenses. Doctors can lose their licenses for inadequate recordkeeping, failing to complete continuing education hours, billing errors, breaches of patient confidentiality, and non-criminal behavior far less severe than performing FGM on minors. Instead, the Michigan medical board allowed both doctors to keep their medical licenses with no restrictions or discipline.

To understand what that means, consider what federal court documents say happened at Dr. Attar’s clinic:

Federal prosecutors allege that Dr. Fakhruddin Attar’s conspiracy ran from 2005 to 2017 and may have involved as many as 100 victims.⁷⁸

The FBI’s investigation identified nine victims between the ages of 7 and 13 from Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois.⁹ When the FBI interviewed those girls, one said she’d been told they were going to the doctor because “our tummies hurt.” She described being placed on an examining table with her knees near her chest and her legs spread apart. She said the doctor “pinched” her on the place where she “goes pee,” and she was given a pad to wear in her underwear. She was told not to talk about it.¹⁰

The second girl said she “got a shot” and that it hurt so badly she screamed. She drew an “X” on her picture of the examining room to show where there was blood on the table. She identified Farida Attar as one of the women who held her hands during the procedure. Her parents told her it was a secret. After it was over, she could barely walk. She said she felt pain all the way down to her ankle.¹¹¹²

Court-ordered medical examinations confirmed the injuries. One girl’s labia minora had been “altered or removed” and her clitoral hood was “abnormal in appearance,” with scar tissue and healing lacerations.¹³ The other had an incision to her clitoral hood and a small tear to her labia minora.¹⁴ One Michigan girl in the broader case was given ground-up Valium mixed into liquid Tylenol during the procedure.¹⁵

When agents interviewed Attar on April 10, 2017, he acknowledged that Nagarwala treated girls ages 6 to 9 at his clinic, that she only came after hours on Fridays and Saturdays, that she performed the procedures for free with no paperwork, and that she did so five or six times per year. He described the visits as treatment for “problems with their genitals, including treatment of genital rashes.” He said his wife was present during the procedures “to comfort them and hold their hands.”¹⁶¹⁷

No party in the case disputed that procedures were performed on girls at Attar's clinic. Instead, the defense was able to prevail on legal technicalities by arguing that the 1996 federal FGM ban was unconstitutional.¹⁸¹⁹ Michigan passed its own state law banning FGM in 2017²⁰ and Congress passed the STOP FGM Act, a new federal ban, in 2020,²¹ but because the alleged procedures predated the new law, no state charges could be filed retroactively.

However, even though legal prosecution failed, the doctors could still lose their medical licenses. The state medical board could conduct its own separate hearings. Michigan's own Public Health Code empowers the Board of Medicine to discipline physicians for "negligence or failure to exercise due care."²² Undocumented procedures performed on minors’ genitals after hours, with no medical records, no informed consent, and no billing would appear to satisfy every threshold for professional discipline that exists. Yet today, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar’s Michigan medical license remains active, unrestricted, and carries no record of any disciplinary action.

Dr. Attar did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Despite acknowledging receipt of multiple requests for comment for previous stories, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Michigan Bureau of Professional Licensing did not respond. Instead, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is asking for $12,792.93 for public records that would explain their actions.²³ To support this investigation, we have started a GoFundMe here.

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This is an ongoing investigation. I’m seeking to raise funds to cover FOIA costs and continue this work. If you’d like to support this investigation, you can contribute here: Expose Medical Board for Licensing an FGM Doctor

1. Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. "Licensee Detail: Fakhruddin S. Attar, Medical Doctor, License No. 4301067384." Accela Citizen Access, https://aca-prod.accela.com/MILARA/GeneralProperty/LicenseeDetail.aspx?LicenseeNumber=4301067384&LicenseeType=Medical+Doctor. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

2. United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. "Detroit Emergency Room Doctor Arrested and Charged with Performing Female Genital Mutilation." The United States Department of Justice, 13 Apr. 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/detroit-emergency-room-doctor-arrested-and-charged-performing-female-genital-mutilation. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

3. Third Superseding Indictment, United States v. Nagarwala, et al., Case No. 2:17-cr-20274-BAF-DRG, ECF No. 153 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 13, 2017), paragraphs 4-6, 21-23. Full docket available at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6275136/united-states-v-nagarwala/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

4. Marotta, Brendon. "Why Does the Doctor Charged in America's First FGM Case Still Have Her Medical License?" Hegemon Media, 6 Jan. 2026, https://www.hegemonmedia.com/p/why-does-the-doctor-charged-in-americas. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

5. Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. "Licensee Detail: Jumana Fakhruddin Nagarwala, Medical Doctor, License No. 4301071795." Accela Citizen Access, https://aca-prod.accela.com/MILARA/GeneralProperty/LicenseeDetail.aspx?LicenseeNumber=4301071795&LicenseeType=Medical+Doctor. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

6. Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. "Licensee Detail: Fakhruddin S. Attar, Medical Doctor, License No. 4301067384." Accela Citizen Access, https://aca-prod.accela.com/MILARA/GeneralProperty/LicenseeDetail.aspx?LicenseeNumber=4301067384&LicenseeType=Medical+Doctor. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

7. Third Superseding Indictment, United States v. Nagarwala, et al., Case No. 2:17-cr-20274-BAF-DRG, ECF No. 153 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 13, 2017), paragraphs 4-6. Full docket available at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6275136/united-states-v-nagarwala/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

8. Allam, Hannah. "How a Surprise Legal Ruling Derailed the First US Female Genital Mutilation Case." BuzzFeed News, 3 Dec. 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hannahallam/fgm-dawoodi-bohra-genital-cutting-michigan-ruling. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

9. Third Superseding Indictment, United States v. Nagarwala, et al., Case No. 2:17-cr-20274-BAF-DRG, ECF No. 153 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 13, 2017), paragraphs 11-16. Full docket available at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6275136/united-states-v-nagarwala/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

10. Criminal Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant, United States v. Nagarwala, Case No. 2:17-mj-30182 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 12, 2017), paragraphs 15-29. Available at https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/press-release/file/957381/dl?inline=. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

11. Criminal Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant, United States v. Nagarwala, Case No. 2:17-mj-30182 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 12, 2017), paragraphs 15-29. Available at https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/press-release/file/957381/dl?inline=. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

12. "Michigan Doctors Charged in Genital Mutilation Case." CNN, 25 Apr. 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/22/health/detroit-genital-mutilation-charges/index.html. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

13. Criminal Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant, United States v. Nagarwala, Case No. 2:17-mj-30182 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 12, 2017), paragraphs 30-36. Available at https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/press-release/file/957381/dl?inline=. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

14. Criminal Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant, United States v. Nagarwala, Case No. 2:17-mj-30182 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 12, 2017), paragraphs 30-36. Available at https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/press-release/file/957381/dl?inline=. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

15. Allam, Hannah. "How a Surprise Legal Ruling Derailed the First US Female Genital Mutilation Case." BuzzFeed News, 3 Dec. 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hannahallam/fgm-dawoodi-bohra-genital-cutting-michigan-ruling. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

16. Criminal Complaint and Affidavit in Support of Arrest Warrant, United States v. Nagarwala, Case No. 2:17-mj-30182 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 12, 2017), paragraphs 37-42. Available at https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/press-release/file/957381/dl?inline=. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

17. "Michigan Doctors Charged in Genital Mutilation Case." CNN, 25 Apr. 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/22/health/detroit-genital-mutilation-charges/index.html. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

18. "Opinion and Order Granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Counts One Through Six of the Third Superseding Indictment." United States v. Nagarwala, et al., Case No. 2:17-cr-20274-BAF-DRG, ECF No. 370 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 20, 2018). Available at https://content-static.detroitnews.com/pdf/2018/US-v-Nagarwala-dismissal-order-11-20-18.pdf. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

19. "Opinion and Order Granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Fourth Superseding Indictment." United States v. Nagarwala, et al., Case No. 2:17-cr-20274-BAF-DRG, ECF No. 505 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 28, 2021). Available at https://www.scribd.com/document/528142710/Nagarwala-Decision. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

20. Michigan Penal Code, MCL § 750.136, Public Act 70 of 2017, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-750-136. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

21. Strengthening the Opposition to Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2020 (STOP FGM Act of 2020), H.R. 6100, 116th Congress, Public Law 116-309, signed 5 Jan. 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6100. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

22. Michigan Public Health Code, MCL § 333.16221(a), https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-333-16221. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

23. Marotta, Brendon. “FGM-Licensing Medical Board Wants $12,792.93 to Search Its Emails.” Hegemon Media, 3 Feb. 2026, https://www.hegemonmedia.com/p/fgm-licensing-medical-board-wants. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.