Fifteen women have filed a lawsuit alleging an Irvine physician forced them to expose their breasts and, in many instances, groped them under the guise of treatment at UCI Medical Center and a clinic affiliated with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
The alleged abuse by Dr. John C. Hoefs, a 79-year-old hepatologist, began in 2006 and continued until his arrest in May 2024 for the sexual battery of two female patients at UCI and his Hoag-affiliated Liver Specialty Center in Irvine, according to the suit filed Monday, Aug. 26, in Orange County Superior Court.
Hoefs, who lives in Irvine, was charged in July with the sexual battery of six additional patients. He faces the possibility of more than two decades in prison if convicted on all 20 counts of felony sexual battery.
The 15 unidentified former patients are suing Hoefs, Hoag, the Liver Specialty Center and the Regents of the University of California system for sexual assault, battery, negligent hiring, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and other alleged violations.
Hoag received numerous complaints about Hoefs and knew of his “dangerous propensity” to sexually abuse female patients as early as 2017, when one of the plaintiffs reported the misconduct to the Medical Board of California, the suit states.
“Hoag failed to take corrective action and rather continued to allow Hoefs to access more vulnerable patients seeking medical care, whom he would later come to abuse,” the suit states. “Additionally, numerous complaints were made by female patients on multiple public, online forums, expressly stating the abusive conduct of Hoefs.”
The Medical Board of California issued an interim suspension order in May prohibiting Hoefs from having any contact with former, current or prospective patients, which includes virtual or face-to-face interactions.
UCI Health “carefully and deliberately” crafted its public image by concealing Hoefs’ employment and allowing him unfettered access to female patients for nearly 20 years, according to the suit.
UCI and Hoefs did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.
In a statement Thursday, Hoag said Hoefs has never been an employee of Hoag and is a gastroenterologist with a subspecialty in liver disease. He operated an independent, private medical practice and had affiliations at several organizations.
“Like many other private practice physicians, Dr. Hoefs leased office space in a building owned by Hoag,” the statement said. “Upon learning of his arrest, Hoag’s medical staff immediately suspended his hospital privileges and Hoag suspended access to his leased space.”
Hoag added that it is “disheartened” by the lawsuit’s troubling allegations and is cooperating in ongoing criminal proceedings against Hoefs.
The plaintiff who complained to the state medical board, a Mission Viejo resident who was born in 1972, sought treatment from Hoefs at the Liver Specialty Center and Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach.
She alleges that during multiple examinations, Hoefs fondled her breasts, required her to remove all of her clothing from the waist up, and refused to allow female chaperones, including his medical staff, in the exam room.
“When that trust is broken, lives can be damaged, and that’s what happened to me,” the woman said during a Thursday press conference at the law officers of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi in Irvine. “His (Hoefs) conduct was unlike any I’ve ever experienced by a doctor. It was so disturbing that I reported him to the California Medical Board in October of 2017 and they took no action. I began to wonder if I was the only one who was concerned by his conduct.”
Hoefs abused the trust of female patients to coerce them to disrobe under the guise of medical treatment so that he could sexually abuse them, said Morgan A. Stewart, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
“We contend and believe that the medical facilities with which Dr Hoefs was affiliated knew that he was a risk to patients, yet continued to send him patients because he was good for business,” he added.
Another plaintiff, a Rowland Heights resident born in 1994, alleges Hoefs “smirked and laughed” while opening a paper vest she was wearing to expose and fondle her breasts.
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Another plaintiff, a Laguna Woods resident born in 1949, alleges Hoefs manipulated her breasts with his ungloved fingers, claiming to be “feeling for her liver.”
During the examination, Hoefs drew the plaintiff’s attention to his erect penis and used his fingers to “flick” his genitals, the suit states.
Yet another plaintiff, an Orange County resident born in 1984, said she was being treated for breast cancer and was referred by her oncologist to Hoefs. During medical examinations, Hoefs allegedly tugged at her gown aggressively, forcing it open to expose her breasts.
“Given her potentially life-threatening breast cancer diagnosis, (the plaintiff) was desperate for life-saving medical treatment and did not question his actions, despite making her uncomfortable, out of fear she would not receive what she believed was necessary and potentially life-saving medical treatment,” the suit states.
Editor’s note: The article has been updated with a statement from Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
