A Virginia doctor billed up to $20million on insurance after forcing hundreds of unassuming women to undergo dozens of unnecessary surgeries.
Dr Javaid Perwaiz was thrown in jail in 2021 for medical fraud after decades of defrauding vulnerable women at his OBGYN practice.
According to the FBI, Perwaiz would convince patients that ‘their health was in imminent danger’ by telling them they had cancer or were at high risk of it.
Perwaiz was convicted on 52 of 63. He was sentenced to 59 years behind bars on May 18, 2021 in Norfolk by Senior US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith.
He was censured in 1982 by the Virginia Board of Medicine for unnecessary surgeries and having a sexual relationship with a patient, reported 13 News Now.
Dracena Holloway, one of his many victims, spearheaded a massive lawsuit against the health care organization that allowed him to practice, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center.
She began seeing him as her OBGYN in 2001 when she was just 19.
The now-42-year-old said she underwent more surgeries than she could count throughout almost 20 years under his care.
Dr Jervaid Perwaiz was a practicing OBGYN in Virginia for more than 30 years
Mom of six Dracena Holloway began visiting Dr Perwaiz when she was just 19 years old
As Holloway continued to visit him, she told the Daily Mail that she noticed odd behaviors, including him hitting on her and asking her out mid-examination.
‘When I had got pregnant again with, I think, I don’t know, I think it was my fourth kid and he was saying that I must have “good, good,”‘ she said.
She said Perwaiz performed countless vaginal exams, an involuntary hysterectomy, major surgeries and even cancer diagnoses.
‘All the times that I signed papers, I was under anesthesia,’ she said.
At one point, just after her mother died of stomach cancer, Perwaiz allegedly told Holloway she was suffering from the very same thing.
‘I went into the office and he said, “We’re going to have to do a surgery on you because you have cancer like your mother.” And I started to cry,’ she said.
‘I remember, I said, “No, my mother just died. I don’t want to die like my mom.”‘
He convinced Holloway he had to operate. Come to find out, Holloway never had cancer and Perwaiz never had the qualifications to perform the surgery in the first place.
Now, the mom of six deals with long-term side effects that have forced her out of a job she loves, working in warehouses.
During that time, he performed thousands of unnecessary surgeries on hundreds of women and pocketed the insurance payout
‘I can’t stand on my feet after four hours,’ she said. ‘I can’t stand on my feet. It hurts really badly. And it’s crazy because like when I try to sit down, I feel the pressure… it hurts really, really bad.’
In December 2025, Holloway, still grappling with the pain and trauma left by Perwaiz, decided she had had enough and hired out-of-state attorney Victoria Wickman.
‘I went through all this pain, all these surgeries, all this stuff happened to me. I should not have to be going through this and just sitting here in the dark,’ she said.
Jivondra Tucker, 39, underwent at least 14 surgeries during the nine years she was under Dr Perwaiz’s care. In April 2013, she even had three surgeries in just one month.
The mother of four was one of at least 500 other victims who joined Holloway’s lawsuit.
Tucker told the Daily Mail the constant operations destroyed her mental health and even left her with an addiction to painkillers.
‘It was to the point where I was taking the pain meds for pain, and it went from me taking them not in pain, and just me just taking them to party,’ she said.
Tucker began seeing Perwaiz in 2010 when she was just 22 due to a friend’s recommendation. She continued under his care until he was indicted in 2019.
Every time Tucker went in for a visit, Perwaiz gave her a pap smear. He eventually diagnosed her with stage three cancer while she was pregnant with her son.
‘He told me that I was going to die,’ she told the Daily Mail.
Jerwaiz recommended she deliver her son early at 37 weeks via C-section. While she was recovering from delivery, a nurse informed her that she’d had her tubes tied.
Jivondra Tucker, 39, said Dr Perwaiz convinced her she had cancer while she was pregnant. She is pictured during treatment in 2010
Tucker continued to see Dr Perwaiz until he was indicted in 2019. She is pictured with her son
‘I didn’t sign no papers to get my tubes tied,’ Tucker said. ‘I had a C-section to have my son.’
Tucker had been told she was going to have a partial hysterectomy, so she saw no reason to have her tubes removed as well.
Years later, she found out that she’d never had cancer and never had her tubes tied.
‘I had a pregnancy scare years ago, like nine years ago, where I was pregnant in my tubes, the whole time, he never took my tubes out,’ she said.
‘I trust him with my life and I’m thinking that he saved my life and the whole time he doesn’t,’ she said. ‘He’s hurting me the whole time.’
Now, she is in constant pain and goes to physical therapy often all while dealing with Crohn’s disease.
‘I think I should be, you know, compensated for what happened, but it’s no amount of money in the world that will take that from what he did and what is going on with me,’ she said.
Other women underwent up to a dozen surgeries, many of which were not at all medically necessary.
‘He then pressured them into having immediate, invasive surgeries that they didn’t need,’ read the FBI’s press release on the 2021 investigation.
‘Perwaiz’s motivation was simple greed,’ the FBI added. ‘The more surgeries he did, no matter how unnecessary, the more money he collected from Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare and private insurance.
‘Perwaiz lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of his patients’ physical and mental health. He shopped at high-end stores and owned five luxury cars.’
Perwaiz racked up more than 1,000 victims during his practice with Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
Anthony DiPietro said this case ‘the biggest lawsuit that no one has heard about yet’
Hundreds of his former patients joined Holloway’s lawsuit against Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, where the OBGYN worked, late last year, according to the New York Times.
The total number of plaintiffs now sits at 1,000 victims, most of whom are black women.
New York Lawyers Anthony T. DiPietro and Victoria Wickman are at the head of the case. They’ve said it is one of the biggest of its kind.
‘I’ve called this the biggest story that nobody has heard about yet,’ DiPietro told the Daily Mail.
The suit has claimed that Chesapeake Regional Medical Center was ‘complicit’ in Perwaiz’s malpractice.
‘Plaintiffs bring this civil action against Defendants for enabling former physician Javaid Perwaiz to perform unnecessary, uninformed, harmful, invasive, unlawful, and life-altering gynecologic medical procedures on them and other women, for nearly a decade, at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, despite repeated reports and clear evidence of Perwaiz’s prior misconduct in his obstetrics and gynecology practice,’ read the complaint.
Along with the medical center, the suit names hospital executives James Reese Jackson, Peter Francis Bastone, Wynn Lawton Dixon Jr, Donald S Buckley and Christopher R Mosley.
‘They actively participated in it,’ said DiPietro. ‘By silencing people who tried to speak up, literally telling them, “Just be quiet. He’s making us a lot of money.”‘
Wickman provided a statement to the Daily Mail about her clients’ suffering.
‘CRMC’s actions have impacted generations of Chesapeake families. Women seeking care were instead subjected to a Frankenstein-style chop shop, their families forced to pick up the pieces,’ she said.
‘Children were delivered prematurely to their physical detriment to fit a schedule and maximize revenue as a result. Hundreds of women were sterilized, and more continue to come forward.’
‘They will live with the devastating effects of these surgeries for the rest of their lives. This is the largest healthcare civil rights violation in modern American history,’ she added.
Holloway went to attorney Victoria Wickman after deciding that she’d had enough of the pain and complications
The lawsuit named several current and former executives at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
The Chesapeake Regional Medical Center clarified to WAVY that Perwaiz was never a direct employee, but rather operated independently out of their hospital.
‘The allegations that form the primary basis for this lawsuit were taken by Dr. Javaid Perwaiz – who has never been an employee of Chesapeake Regional Healthcare (CRH),’ read their statement.
‘His actions, for which he is now serving a lengthy prison sentence, occurred without the knowledge of the organization.’
A Chesapeake Regional Medical Center spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Mail: ‘Out of respect for the legal process and the individuals involved, we are unable to comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation.
‘We have tremendous empathy for the individuals harmed by a former OB-GYN who was convicted and has not been practicing since 2019.
‘We did cooperate with the government’s investigation of the former OB-GYN, which led to his conviction.
‘Chesapeake Regional Healthcare is committed to preserving safe, high-quality care, responsible governance and the long-term trust of the community we serve.’
The Daily Mail contacted Jackson, Bastone, Dixon, Buckley, Mosley and Perwaiz’s representation for comment.
