Richmond-area oncologist accused of touching woman inappropriately files petition for appeal in court, opposed by Board of Medicine

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Richmond-area oncologist whose license was suspended after he was accused of inappropriately touching a woman he was supposed to be mentoring has filed a Petition for an Immediate Appeal in Richmond Circuit Court.

According to the Virginia Department of Health Professions, Dr. Attique Samdani filed a Petition for Intermediate Appeal in the Richmond Circuit Court, which the Board of Medicine is opposing.

Arguments on the petition are scheduled to be heard at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28.

A formal hearing is scheduled at the Department of Health Professions at 9 a.m. on Friday, June 27.

The Virginia Board of Medicine suspended Samdani's license on March 20 after multiple alleged violations of Virginia's Regulations Governing the Practice of Medicine.

Samdani was previously listed on HCA Virginia’s website as a doctor affiliated with the Virginia Cancer Institute, Johnston-Willis Hospital and Chippenham Hospital, but has since appeared to have been removed. His specialties include hematology, or the study of the blood, and oncology, or the study of cancer. His medical license was first issued in 1998.

Samdani is accused by the board of “[making] inappropriate comments and touch[ing] intimate parts of [a woman’s] body over her clothing against her will for his own sexual gratification,” doing so "while acting as a professional mentor and/or under the guise of performing and/or teaching [her] how to perform medical examinations."

The alleged incident occurred in July 2024 and involved an unidentified woman who traveled to America to participate in medical observerships with Samdani and other doctors after graduating from a medical school in Pakistan.