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STOW -- Three women have come forward to complain that their pain management physician sexually abused them inside his office in Stow.
All 3 patients say Dr. James Bressi touched them inappropriately while they were being treated for severe pain resulting from bad backs or other serious medical conditions at the Summit Pain Specialists in Stow.
Dr. Bressi told the Investigator Tom Meyer he's innocent, and that these are just allegations. He refused to answer additional questions, telling the Investigator "it's none of your business."
A patient named Pam said Dr. Bressi was giving her a deep tissue massage when he tried placing his hands his hands where they didn't belong.
"It was almost unfathomable, he would stick his hands into my underpants. He had an erection. He was getting his jollies off, I guess, " she said.
A second patient, Carol, said Dr.Bressi had her lie face down on an examination table. She says Bressi would move around the table, rubbing up against her.
When asked what part of him was touching her hands, she said "his penis."
She called his behavior disgusting.
"He still had his pants on but I could feel it on my hands, rubbing up against my hands. I know what an erection is," she said.
A third patient, Minnie, brought her husband Bill along to an appointment. Minnie was given anesthesia and was unconscious for a back procedure.
She was on an examination table with a wall of curtains surrounding her. But Bill says there was a small crack in the curtains and he couldn't believe what he saw.
"His hands were not on her back. They were on her lower butt area, her private area. I was ready to kill him, " Bill said.
Bill and Minnie said police told them that as many as 27 patients came forward to complain about Dr. Bressi.
A spokesman for the Stow police chief would not confirm that number because the lead detective on the case was unavailable.
But he did confirm that police were investigating complaints from some women.
The 3 patients who spoke with Channel 3 News would have come forward sooner but they feared Dr. Bressi might cut off their badly-needed pain medications and also thought no one would believe them.
They decided to break their silence when they saw a Channel 3 News report on the pain clinic two weeks ago.
Dr. Bressi stopped practicing at Summit Pain Specialists a few months ago. His partner, Dr. Robert Geiger, who's still seeing patients at the clinic, has refused comment.
Stow police are investigating complaints against Dr. Bressi but declined to offer any specific details.
WKYC-TV
