Medical Licensing Board Lied To Press About Investigating FGM Doctors
Spokesperson falsely claimed both physicians’ licenses were under investigation when cases were closed.
Michigan’s medical board lied to the press about investigating FGM doctors.
On December 10, 2018, Medscape reported that “as of December 7,” the licenses of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, two physicians charged in 2017 with federal counts related to female genital cutting, were “active but under investigation,” and that the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) “could not comment further on active investigations.”
Based on the agency’s own records, which I obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, that was a lie.
FOIA records I obtained show the Michigan Attorney General’s office recommended closing the Attar investigation (file 43-XX-146259) on July 27, 2018. LARA confirmed under FOIA that “a traditional investigation was not conducted” on Attar at all.
LARA closed the Nagarwala investigation (file 43-XX-146153) on September 25, 2018, with a disposition of “No Action Taken.” LARA never held a single hearing on either physician’s license.
When the spokesperson told Medscape that LARA “could not comment further on active investigations,” there were no active investigations to comment on.
When they claimed both physicians’ licenses were “under investigation,” Dr. Nagarwala's investigation had been closed months earlier with no action taken, and no investigation into Dr. Attar was ever conducted at all.
The Medscape article ran three weeks after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled the 1996 federal FGM statute unconstitutional, dismissing key charges against both physicians. LARA had closed its investigations before that ruling.
The closure memos for Nagarwala and Attar have been withheld in full by both LARA and the Attorney General's office under attorney-client privilege. Both agencies denied appeals to release them.
Both physicians retain active, unrestricted Michigan medical licenses. Attar’s clinic has reopened at a new location and is accepting new patients, including children.
The Medscape story containing LARA’s false claims, “Surgeon: Physicians in Genital Cutting Case Should Lose Licenses,” written by Marcia Frellick and published December 10, 2018, is archived here.
On May 19, Emily Fitzgerald of LARA's Office of Communications replied to my request for comment, acknowledging receipt and stating that she was "working to get you a response” but “it is unlikely we will be able to issue a response within 24 hours of receiving this request, but I will try to get one to you as soon as possible.”
In order to allow LARA time to respond, I delayed my original publication date of this story a full week. On May 25, I sent a follow-up email, asking when I might expect a comment, because I could not delay indefinitely. As of publication, I still have not received comment. I will update this article to include LARA's statement if and when one is received.
This is an ongoing investigation. If you’d like to support this work, you can contribute here: Expose Medical Board for Licensing an FGM Doctor