Family Physician Danielle Roberts, DO, who is accused of branding women in a New York-based "sex cult," previously worked at Milwaukee-based Columbia St. Mary's Hospital and two of its affiliates as recently as last summer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Dr. Roberts allegedly took part in the controversial self-help group Nxivm, in which some female members were brainwashed by founder Keith Raniere, branded with his initials and forced to have sex with him. A criminal complaint against Mr. Raniere alleges he created a system for women to advance in the group by serving as "slaves" to male "masters."
Members of the group identified Dr. Roberts as the physician who branded them in the pubic area with a cauterizing iron as part of a ritualistic induction to the highest level of the group. Four people held each woman down during the procedure and no anesthesia was used.
Columbia St. Mary's Hospital, which is owned by Ascension Wisconsin, never employed Dr. Roberts — instead, she worked for a staffing agency that provided the hospital with temporary workers.
"As soon as we learned of her alleged behavior in New York, we immediately notified the placement agency and revoked approval of Danielle Roberts for any future assignments at any of our sites of care," Caryn Kaufman, a spokeswoman for Ascension Wisconsin, told the Journal Sentinel.
That agency, CHG Healthcare, said it wasn't aware of the allegations facing Dr. Roberts. It placed her at three separate facilities — St. Mary's, Columbia St. Mary's Ozaukee in Mequon (Wis.) and Milwaukee-based Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Hospital. CHG Healthcare's Senior Public Relations Manager Spencer Sutherland said Dr. Roberts worked in the Wisconsin hospitals from October 2012 to November 2013 and from March 2016 to July 2017.
During one of those stints, she treated a 57-year-old patient named Damon Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey said during his stay, Dr. Roberts told him about an "amazing guy" leading seminars in New York, and Dr. Roberts gave him her business card.
Thrown back by her "disheveled appearance" and "hazy" way of operating, Mr. Dorsey searched Dr. Roberts on Google and found her tied to Mr. Raniere and the cult, as well as the brandings. He filed a complaint with the hospital but hasn't heard anything since. According to the Journal Sentinel, it does not appear St. Mary's forwarded the complaint to state regulators.
"The department has not received a complaint against Ms. Danielle D. Roberts, nor is there an active investigation with the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board," Kirsten Reader, assistant deputy secretary a the Department of Safety and Professional Services in Wisconsin, told the publication.
While Dr. Roberts' Wisconsin medical license expired in February, she is still credentialed in New York, where state officials are expected to recommend changes to the state's process of reviewing complaints against physicians.
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