NYC gastroenterologist assaulted and filmed multiple unconscious patients at work
Key Takeaways
Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng, a gastroenterologist who worked at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens last year, was arraigned this week after being charged with drugging, raping, and filming himself assaulting patients at work and other women at home.
He was fired in December 2022 after a woman he was allegedly dating found videos of herself and other women, including hospital patients, being assaulted.
Cheng pleaded not guilty but is being held on Rikers Island. He faces multiple 25 years to life sentences.
A 33-year-old New York City gastroenterologist, Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng, was arraigned earlier this week after being charged with repeated acts of sexual abuse against unconscious patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens as well as other victims in his home, according to a Queens District Attorney press release. He is currently being held on Rikers Island without bail, and the investigation remains ongoing.[][]
Cheng was first certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 2020. In December 2022, he was arrested for his alleged crimes, at which point he was fired from NewYork-Presbyterian Queens and his medical license suspended.[]
According to the press release, Cheng was charged with two counts of rape in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, and four counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree. Cheng pleaded not guilty but is facing multiple 25 years to life sentences.[]
In addition to raping and assaulting his victims, Cheng filmed the assaults, recording both at his home (where he allegedly drugged the women he raped) and in the workplace. The press release states that the hospital patients appeared unconscious while Cheng assaulted them. While many of the victims were identified, the release states that footage shows more than six other women being sexually assaulted.
Hospital victims depicted in video footage include, among others, a 19-year-old woman who, according to the New York Times, sought treatment for gallstone pain and was subjected to an unnecessary rectal exam by Cheng and a seriously ill 47-year-old woman. Videos taken at Cheng’s apartment depict apparently unconscious victims who may have been administered sevoflurane before being assaulted. None of the victims assaulted at Cheng’s apartment have any memories of what happened to them.
Cheng was initially accused of sexual abuse in December 2022 after a woman—described as “Apartment Victim 1” in the press release— found video footage of herself and other women being assaulted by Cheng. Newsweek reports that she was his girlfriend and that Cheng allegedly “drugged her in his Astoria home by covering her mouth with a surgical mask stuffed with cotton balls soaked with an unknown liquid.”[]
The victim’s attorney brought this information to the Queens District Attorney’s office. At this point, New York-Presbyterian Queens worked with the Queens District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau to begin an investigation.
A subsequent search warrant revealed that Cheng’s home was filled with recreational and medical sedative drugs, including fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, propofol, and sevoflurane.
One victim alleged that the hospital did not follow up with her complaint as rigorously as it should have, according to Newsweek. In a statement to the New York Post, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens said, “As caregivers, we are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of our patients – it is a sacred trust. The crimes committed by this individual are heinous, despicable, and a fundamental betrayal of our mission and our patients’ trust. We are appalled and deeply saddened by what these victims and their families have endured.”[][]
The Post also reported that a hospital representative said there were “stringent patient safety policies and procedures in place, and that it was working to identify any weaknesses.”[] The American Medical Association (AMA)’s Code of Medical Ethics makes it clear that sexual harassment—or sexual contact between physicians and patients of any kind—is unethical and may be detrimental to patients’ well-being.
When asked about Cheng’s case, the AMA told MDLinx, “The American Medical Association has a longstanding policy and practice of condemning sexual misconduct in the practice of medicine. The medical profession must represent the highest ethical standards, and we take evidence of exceptions seriously. Patients put their trust in physicians, and the overwhelming majority of physicians merit that trust.”
According to Philip J. Rizzuto, owner and managing attorney of the Rizzuto Law Firm, Cheng is the perpetrator of the crimes, but the hospital is also responsible. “Generally speaking, a facility would be held liable for the actions of their employee. The facilities should do a better job screening their employees and have policies that no one should be alone in a room with a patient. Keep doors open and always have an assistant present.”