A former Army doctor and lecturer at the military medical college in Maryland has been accused of performing grotesque and highly unprofessional experiments on students, injecting them with hypnosis inducing drugs, performing both penile and rectal operations during class and even withdrawing students’ blood to induce shock. So shocking are the reports emanating from the class, the prosecutor in charge reported he had not seen anything like it in his 26 years on the bench.
John Henry Hagmann stands accused of conducting illegal experiments and was escorted off the premises of the Uniformed Services University campus this week in the wake of the reports on his irregular methods which included instructing students to perform penile nerve blocks and inserting catheters into the genitals of his students.
Following his arrest, the college has launched a full scale investigation into Hagmann’s conduct and is forwarding the results to law enforcement agencies. A medical examination was conducted on the students to determine if they were exposed to any diseases in the course of their lessons.
School President Charles Rice indicated they took “immediate steps” in ensuring the safety of their students and the revocation of Hagmann’s license by the Virginia Board of Medicine.
However, records accessed by Reuters indicate the school administration was indeed aware of the crude methods used by the rogue teacher. According to the reports, school officials, as early as 20 years ago, were already aware of Hagmann’s methods. Also in the report were details that three members of the school’s faculty had indeed sat in one of Hagmann’ classes but either refused to inform their superiors or neglected their duty to uphold ethical practice. Hagmann was let loose and his experiments inappropriately rubber stamped.
Even more intriguing is evidence that one of the former deans of the institution was so alarmed by the unnatural teaching methods of Hagmann, she recommended he be court martialed. However, no action was taken causing investigators to wonder if the lecturer was being protected and why no student had reported such conduct until only recently.
Meanwhile, Hagmann has denied any part in the wrong doings he is charged with and has vowed to appeal the revoking of his license by the Virginia Board. According to him, the school originally felt that none of the training methods posed any danger and even supported his research.
Hagmann said, “The same institution that is now making a complaint originally supported and encouraged the programs.” If indeed this were the position of the school, the faculty did not show it.
Colleagues in the school’s faculty described Hagmann as being an “iconoclast and a cowboy,” a man who had a “magical effect on people, almost spell-like” and one who was “impatient with government rules.” When reports on his dangerous methods were reported, his true self was brought to light. The evidence was damaging and the consequent report damning.
According to Assistant Attorney General Frank Pedrotty, “The evidence is so overwhelming and so bizarre as to almost shock the conscience of a prosecutor who’s been doing this for 26 years.”
Hagmann is being held as investigations into his unscrupulous training methods are being concluded. For a teacher who was teaching since 20 year ago, questions have been raised as to why reports are only emerging now, more than 20 years after his first class and hundreds of students later.
