Newly released files show Jeffrey Epstein arranging procedures, receiving medical updates about women, and leveraging relationships with physicians, prompting scrutiny over privacy and consent.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Newly unsealed government records detail how convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein maintained a network of physicians who treated him and young women connected to him, at times providing him with access to private medical information and raising concerns about ethics and consent.
The files—more than 15,000 emails, text messages, laboratory reports and financial records spanning 2009 through 2019—describe Epstein coordinating medical appointments, financing procedures and, in some instances, receiving updates about women’s health conditions, according to reporting by The New York Times.
Among the documents is an account of a young woman who suffered a head injury after falling from an all-terrain vehicle on Epstein’s private island. A Mount Sinai plastic surgeon, Dr. Jess Ting, stitched the wound with 35 sutures on a dining room table inside Epstein’s residence. Epstein later described the scene to an assistant, writing that the woman was “laid out on the dining room table” during the procedure.
Dr. Margaret Moon, a physician and medical ethics specialist at Johns Hopkins University, described the episode as “breathtaking.” She said a wound of that severity should have been treated in an emergency department equipped to manage potential complications.
Dr. Ting later received a $50,000 donation from Epstein designated for breast cancer research and subsequently visited Epstein’s private island. In a statement, Ting said: “In my treatment of these adult patients, I never knew, witnessed, or had any knowledge of any illegal or potentially illegal activities.” He added, “Mr. Epstein represents the very worst of human nature, and I deeply regret having had any association with him.”
The records identify Dr. Eva Dubin, founder of the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai and a former romantic partner of Epstein, as a key medical contact. The documents show Dubin connecting Epstein, his acquaintances and several women to medical specialists.
In 2012, after a woman asked Epstein about sexual activity with another man, Epstein responded: “You must first go to the gyno,” later adding in a separate message that Dubin would “organize” the appointment. Although Dubin was not copied on the email, the woman later reported receiving referrals.
Around the same period, Dubin arranged for the same woman to volunteer at the Dubin Breast Center. After obtaining hospital approval, Dubin wrote to Epstein: “I told them she will only sit there and look pretty.”
A representative for Dubin said in a statement that she made referrals “in good faith and without any awareness of wrongdoing” and that she “never witnessed, suspected or had any knowledge of Mr. Epstein’s criminal conduct.”
Mount Sinai said it has established a committee to review and investigate its institutional ties to Epstein.
The documents also reflect instances in which physicians communicated medical details to Epstein regarding women’s treatment. In one exchange, a woman wrote: “All the doctors you pay directly keep you well informed about my ‘treatments.’” Epstein responded that the doctors “take the time to make sure I’m happy.”
In Florida, Epstein’s longtime internist, Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, corresponded with him about laboratory results involving women and assisted in arranging treatment for gonorrhea in 2018. When Epstein proposed administering antibiotic injections through Moskowitz, the physician advised instead that the women seek treatment in an emergency room.
“That way I do not have to report the cases to health department including contacts,” Moskowitz wrote, referencing state reporting requirements. The following day, Epstein asked whether the women had identified him as the source of infection. Moskowitz replied, “They say a friend overseas.” The records do not clarify how that information was obtained.
Across the files, Epstein is shown arranging pelvic examinations, cosmetic procedures including liposuction and mole removals, psychiatric consultations and other treatments. In some instances, payment for care was abruptly discontinued. After one woman requested $600 to refill an acne prescription, an assistant relayed the request to Epstein, who responded: “Ignore.”
Legal scholars reviewing the documents questioned whether meaningful consent could exist when medical care was arranged, financed and monitored by Epstein.
“They’re being forced to have this treatment by a doctor not of their choice,” said Barry R. Furrow, director of the Health Law Program at Drexel University. “I don’t think you can even talk about consent in this.”
The newly released materials add to ongoing scrutiny over the scope of Epstein’s relationships with medical professionals and institutions and the broader ethical implications of those connections.
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