FORT HOOD, Texas (KXXV) — The Hawaiian congressional delegation is calling for an independent investigation by the Pentagon into a former Fort Hood Army doctor accused of secretly recording patients.
Watch the full story here:
The case against a former Fort Hood Army doctor accused of secretly recording his patients is expanding into Hawaii, where he was previously stationed for several years before transferring to Fort Hood. Hawaiian lawmakers are calling on the Department of War to investigate misconduct allegations against Major Blaine McGraw.
McGraw is the former Fort Hood Army doctor accused of secretly recording and inappropriately touching his patients. Before he worked at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood, he worked at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.
The Hawaiian Congressional delegation wrote on Monday to the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Army and the Acting Inspector General to independently investigate. Read the full letter here.
"Even though it is still the federal government, you want an independent agency doing an investigation and not just the army, so we don't have a fox guarding the hen house situation. We want to know what really happened," Higginbotham said.
Austin-based law firm National Trial Law is also calling for an investigation. Partner Laurie Higginbotham says they are representing more than 10 of McGraw's alleged victims.
"This happened with the same doctor at two different Army bases for years and it's not even the first time it's happened in the Army," Higginbotham said.
"We're being called every week by new victims and not just from Fort Hood at Darnell, but also Tripler Army in Hawaii," Higginbotham said.
National Trial Law says it's working to file Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) complaints for each victim.
"It serves two purposes. One is to provide compensation for damages that victims have suffered, but the other thing is to hold the army accountable because this is a systemic problem," Higginbotham said.
FTCA complaints will turn into a civil lawsuit against the United States once firms have gone through the administrative claims process. National Trial Law says anyone impacted has two years from the date that they learned they may be a victim to present an administrative claim against the Army for an FTCA complaint.
Cobos Law Firm says it is now representing more than 70 plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit against McGraw himself, separate from any FTCA complaints.
Law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight sent 25 News a statement:
"We currently represent 6 women who were patients of Dr. McGraw at Fort Hood, and we represent one woman who was his patient at Tripler. To bring a claim of negligence against the Army, you must go use the Federal Tort Claims Act. Before you can file a lawsuit under the FTCA, you first must file an administrative complaint with the Army. The Army then gets 6 months (or more) to investigate the claim. The Army can then deny the claim or engage in settlement discussions. If the Army denies the claim, then we will have 6 months in which to file a lawsuit. For now, we are in the process of filing the administrative FTCA complaints for each of our clients."
McGraw served in the Navy for nearly two years, detaching in 2006.
Navy officials say they cannot share why he left the Navy for privacy reasons.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
