NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Dozens of women have contacted the Metro Nashville Police Department after a NewsChannel 5 investigation into the Center for Reproductive Health.
Now police have launched their own criminal investigation.
The women had all been patients at the Nashville fertility clinic that suddenly closed last month after the clinic was unable to pay its employees.
The women who have filed complaints with police believed the man who claimed to be their doctor was a licensed medical professional.
But to their shock and horror, our investigation revealed he is not.
When Metro police learned of what we had uncovered, the department immediately set up a way for these women to report what had happened to them. Police said they have been surprised by the huge response.
"I know in my tenure in this division, we have not had a case like this before," Captain Johnnie Melzoni told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Melzoni heads up the Metro Police Department's Special Victims Division.
"When you said you have never had a case like this before, what did you mean?" we asked him.
"Of this magnitude," he said. "This could be a very, very large investigation."
His unit which investigates sexual assaults is now focused on the Center for Reproductive Health, the Nashville fertility clinic that suddenly closed its doors in April.
But sexual assault? At the clinic?
Remember Sarah Davis, the former patient we interviewed at the beginning of our investigation?
"What did they tell you about Dr. (Farere) Dyer?" We asked her.
"Nothing but wonderful things," Davis told us.
"And they told you he was a fertility doctor?" we inquired.
"Correct," she replied.
Police said they began their investigation after we revealed how Dyer treated many of the patients at the clinic is not a licensed medical doctor.
"You have to be licensed by the state of Tennessee to do a procedure, and (from) our initial investigation, there were procedures being done that would require a licensed physician," Capt. Melzoni said.
Davis was the first who shared with us how Dyer performed on her what's known as an IUI — or intrauterine insemination — where sperm is placed directly into a woman's uterus using a small catheter.
"How many IUIs did you have there?" we had asked Davis.
"Two," she said.
"And who performed them?" we continued.
"Both of them were Dr. Dyer," Davis said.
Metro police then set up a special email box so women who'd been patients at the clinic, especially Farere Dyer's could contact them. That email address is CRHcomplaint@nashville.gov. And less than 48 hours later after that email address had been set up, police had already heard from 46 women.
"Forty-six is a lot," Capt. Melzoni remarked.
"So you’re calling these women, these patients, victims?" we asked Melzoni.
"Absolutely. Absolutely," he replied.
"Why?" we wondered.
"It’s hard when you read the emails that have come in and (see) how hurt these women are," Melzoni said.
The women, as we found, had every reason to believe Dyer was a doctor. It's what clinic employees called him. The Center's own social media posts referred to him as "Dr. Dyer."
"Dr. Dyer‘s name is checked (on her records) that he performed the IUIs," Davis told me.
That's right. The clinic's own medical forms — the ones used for both of Davis' procedures — identified Dyer as the physician. In patients' medical records, Dyer's own nurse in her notes wrote "Dr. Dyer."
"You know, these are people that had wanted a family and put their trust in this company for that and there’s sadness, there’s betrayal," Melzoni said of Dyer's patients.
The police department is now offering free counseling to these women and encouraging as many patients, and even former employees, to come forward.
"Some of these cases are going to have criminal consequences. And we want to talk to everyone about their experience so we can find out exactly what happened," Melzoni said.
Melzoni told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that the Metro Police Department is taking this case and the allegations very seriously. There are three detectives solely focused on this case while others in the unit are also jumping in to help so they can get back to each woman as soon as possible. The unit is also working closely with both the Davidson County District Attorney's Office and the Tennessee Attorney General's Office.
Since we spoke with Captain Melzoni, more families have contacted Metro police. The number now is up to 65.
Did this affect you?
If you were a patient or employee at the Center for Reproductive Health, investigators want to talk with you. They do ask that you contact all three agencies.
The Metro Nashville Police Department has created a special email box where people can file complaints and share information about possible criminal activity involving the Center for Reproductive Health.
That email address is CRHcomplaint@nashville.gov. Those emails will go directly to the Special Victims Division of the police department.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sued Dr. Vasquez and the Center for Reproductive Health under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, seeking immediate relief to patients caused by Dr. Vasquez’s unexpected suspension of patient care and the sudden closure of his clinic. To file a complaint, you can complete a complaint form here [tn.gov] or you can call (615) 741-4737 or toll free inside Tennessee at (800) 342-8385.
And complaints about the unlicensed practice of medicine can be submitted to the Tennessee Department of Health through their website at https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/health-professional-boards/report-a-concern.html [tn.gov].
NewsChannel 5's previous reporting on the Center for Reproductive Health:
Patients of shuttered fertility clinic shocked to learn the man who treated them was not a licensed doctor
Tennessee Attorney General on suing the Center for Reproductive Health for abandoning patients
Center For Reproductive Health issues statement regarding closure
Legal recourse for patients of now closed fertility center
Patients left in limbo after Nashville fertility clinic suddenly closes
