In Feb. 2013, a woman working at the John Hopkins Health Systems noticed a small camera around the neck of Dr. Nikita Levy and reported her find to hospital authorities. Soon after, an investigation commenced that resulted in Levy’s dismissal and an agreement by Hopkins to pay 8,000 women and young girls $190 million in restitution.

Levy, a gynecologist with two and a half decades of experience, was found to have been secretly taping the pelvic exams he had been performing. Federal officers uncovered around 140 pictures and 1,200 videos kept on his home computers.

Levy committed suicide by asphyxiation mere days after he had been fired and the investigation had been initiated. His death came before any criminal charges could be brought against him.

The settlement being offered by Hopkins is one of the largest of its kind to date. Its initial approval was handed down on Monday, Jul. 21, and helps move the case towards closure. Before it officially closes, there will be further hearings, including one where the victims are given a chance to speak, and the final sum will need to be approved by Judge Sylvester B. Cox.

The 8,000 women included in the settlement, which includes more than 60 children, are among the estimated 12,600 patients seen by Levy during his career with Hopkins. The videos do not contain faces, so most of the people in the videos have not been positively identified. To do so has been deemed unnecessarily traumatizing to the women who have already had their trust betrayed by their physician.

Levy reportedly managed to obtain his videos by breaking hospital policies and conducting the pelvic exams without nurses or chaperones present. He is reported to have sent them from the room. Women also report being verbally harassed and touched inappropriately by Levy. Some women say they were subjected to extra pelvic exams unnecessarily.

The hospital sent out letters to Levy’s former patients in order to offer apologies and to implore them to continue seeking health care with other medical professionals within their system. However, several women are said to be so traumatized that they are unwilling to see any doctors at this point. Some are not even comfortable taking their children to physicians any longer.