Georgia congressmen ask for investigation of gynecologist linked to detention center
ATLANTA — Georgia’s four Democratic congressmen have asked state law enforcement authorities to investigate a gynecologist who is accused of performing unauthorized surgeries on detainees at a South Georgia immigration detention center.
Dr. Mahendra Amin is at the center of a controversy that began last week when a nurse who worked at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla filed a whistleblower complaint. Dawn Wooten alleged the facility was not protecting employees and detainees from the spread of COVID-19 and that several women had reported Amin had performed surgeries that left them sterile.
U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop, Hank Johnson, Lucy McBath and David Scott sent a letter Monday to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, calling for a probe.
“We request the GBI immediately open an investigation into the whistleblower allegations that Mahendra Amin and other medical professionals at ICDC violated the criminal laws of the State of Georgia by performing unnecessary medical procedures on patients without their informed consent,” the letter says.
A GBI spokeswoman, Nelly Miles, said the agency is aware of a federal investigation into the allegations. “By state law, the GBI can only initiate an investigation at the request of specific individuals, including police chiefs, sheriffs and district attorneys,” Miles said in an email.
Amin “vehemently disagrees with the whistleblower’s allegations and sincerely hopes that Congress and all other interested parties will withhold judgment until all of the facts come out,” his attorney, Scott Grubman, said in an email.
“We are confident that once the actual evidence is developed and reviewed, it will become clear to everyone that Dr. Amin did not engage in this alleged misconduct,” Grubman added.
Also Tuesday, Bryan Cox, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed Amin has stopped treating patients from the detention center, though Cox declined to elaborate.