According to Local Cincinatti news former UC Health doctor who performed genital ultrasounds in his bedroom on men from his running group who went there for heart scans has been found guilty of felony charges.
In a decision released Tuesday, Aug. 5, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker found Rudel Saunders guilty of two counts of practicing medicine without a license.
Saunders faces up to 12 months in prison on each count, although nonviolent offenders in Ohio typically are sentenced to probation. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Saunders, 44, chose to have a non-jury trial, which took place in late July.
Two men who met Saunders through the running group testified that he convinced them on various dates in 2022 to come to his Northside apartment for what they believed would be heart scans.
Saunders, a resident at the time, told the men that he needed a certain number of ultrasounds for his training.
One of the men testified that he was interested in the ultrasound because of a family history with heart problems.
A doctor who teaches at the University of Cincinnati’s medical school testified that the school did not require a certain number of ultrasounds for the credentialing process.
According to Dinkelacker’s decision, Dr. Michael Hellman said that Saunders’ training “was to take place at the hospital, not at (his) residence − and not without the supervision of an appropriate educator.”
Also, any contact Saunders had with “patients” had to take place “under proper supervision and not done outside a hospital,” an official with the state medical board testified.
Saunders also stood trial in April on misdemeanor charges including voyeurism, although he was acquitted. The exams were videorecorded by a camera focused on Saunders’ bed. At that trial one of the men testified that Saunders had the man, who was wearing only shorts, lay on his back on his bed, with a towel covering his midsection.
The man held Saunders’ cellphone in one hand, which showed the ultrasound images.
After checking the man’s heart and neck, Saunders told the man that the last part of the exam would involve the man’s testicles.
In the video, which was played in court, the man could be heard saying,
“What?”
“I was shocked when he said it,” the man testified. “It all just happened really fast. I didn’t really know what to do.”
Saunders’ license to practice medicine was revoked in 2023 because of the allegations.
