NORFOLK, Va. - The defense has rested, and the government had no rebuttal in the federal case against Dr. Javaid Perwaiz, an OBGYN currently jailed on federal charges.
The gynecologist is accused of performing the operations over a nine-year period in Suffolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake.
Perwaiz is also accused of falsifying sterilization consent forms and inducing early labor. He faces more than 60 federal charges after his arrest in November 2019.
Monday on the stand, 69-year-old Perwaiz disputed his nurses' claims that diagnostic equipment in his office were broken for months at a time and that he would use them anyway. He said after being questioned by the prosecuting attorney, "They were broken according to them but functional enough for me.”
The prosecution asked why Perwaiz didn’t use a vinegar solution to see abnormal cells when looking inside the cervix. Perwaiz told the jury that his naked eye was more accurate than a biopsy.
While on the stand, the prosecution brought up that nearly all of the women in the 61-count indictment, close to three dozen, claimed Perwaiz told them they would get cancer if they didn’t have surgery. He denied saying that under oath and said he was just a proactive doctor.
The prosecution also questioned why Perwaiz would re-write his medical records at a later date with problems and symptoms on them that the patients testified they never had. He told the jury while at home that night, he would recall details he missed and add them to the records. The prosecution questioned how he could remember those items with 100 patients a week and asked why he would shred his original records.
A video secretly recorded by a patient was played in court Monday as well. The patient claimed she couldn’t get pregnant but had no other gynecological issues. On the tape, you can hear the doctor stating he will help the patient get pregnant but saying they will have to lie on insurance forms and claim painful or irregular periods so insurance will kick in.
The prosecution closed their case by telling the jury that Perwaiz’s medical license was revoked in 1984 for performing unnecessary surgeries at Maryview Hospital and that he was also convicted of two felonies for tax fraud in 1995. Perwaiz never disclosed he was a convicted felon or lost his license when filing out; when asked by the prosecution attorney why, Perwaiz replied that he forgot.
Closing arguments in the trial will begin Wednesday at 10 a.m.
