HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — As she started to cry, a young medical resident from Pakistan testified before the Virginia Board of Medicine Friday about how she was “afraid she might get raped” by a Richmond-area blood and cancer doctor inside a motel room on Midlothian Turnpike last year.
The board voted 7-0 to revoke Dr. Attique Samdani's medical license effective March 20, 2025, following an all-day hearing where two women shared testimony about their experiences with the doctor.
The woman from Pakistan, referred to as "Individual One" during the hearing, testified that Samdani touched her breasts and groin area over her clothes while she was participating in an observership with him in July of 2024.
"I was so afraid because he was so tall and he was strong, so I couldn't say no," she testified. "I was so afraid that I might get raped, that he might hurt me.”
Doctor Samdani, formally with the Virginia Cancer Institute, testified that he likes to mentor medical school graduates from Pakistan and provide observerships for them to help them get into a residency program in the United States.
"Pakistan gave us the education, the United States gave us the opportunity. I’ve been very blessed with what I have and the training I got from Pakistan, so I’ve been very involved with graduates from Pakistan to help them,” Samdani said.
American residency programs like to see letters of recommendation from three different physician observerships, according to testimony at the hearing.
As part of the observership with Samdani, “Individual 1,” who had no knowledge of the Richmond area, was expected to find her own lodging and pay for it.
She picked the Super 8 motel on Midlothian Turnpike because it was close to the hospital where she would observe Samdani.
“Individual 1” testified that it was her first time in the United States, and her first time staying in a hotel.
"Individiual 1's" then-boyfriend who is now her husband, who drove her down from his residency program in Pennsylvania, dropped her off with Samdani who, according to the couple, said he would take her to the hotel.
The then-boyfriend, identified as "Physician A" during the hearing, said he trusted Samdani at the time.
Samdani testified that "Individual 1" seemed uncomfortable with the accommodations, so he carried her luggage to her room and went inside the room on two separate occasions that Sunday night.
“I did, I carried her luggage,” Samdani said. When his lawyer, Eric Atkinson with Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP asked “why?” he replied "female, late hour, trying to help her."
The woman said Samdani told her inside the room that he performs lymph node exams on all his patients and then began performing one on her in her hotel room.
"He started touching my breasts on both sides, and I said, 'Sir, I am uncomfortable,' and he said 'No, it's OK, it's not an issue,'" she testified.
"Physician A" testified that he turned around from his return drive to Pennsylvania to pick her up after she told him what happened, and when he arrived at the hotel "she was crying as soon as I entered the room. She came to me and she hugged me, and she had tears all over her face."
"Physician A" said he called Samdani to confront him about what happened and Samdani said “What do you want? Do you want money?”
“Physician A” also said he drove “Individual 1” to the police station and encouraged her to report what happened, which she did eventually do.
But, she testified that she still has not told her family in Pakistan about what happened because it would be “very embarrassing” for the family.
She did, however, report them to the physician that recommended she do an observership with Dr. Samdani, according to her testimony, and she said that physician told her to call police and report Samdani to the medical board.
Samdani denied the allegations, claiming he never touched the woman.
"There was absolutely no physical touch," Samdani testified.
He claimed “Individual 1” asked him how she would learn to do an exam, and he was telling her how there is no difference between an exam in Pakistan and the U.S.
“I sat on the chair and she sat on the bed. It’s two physicians talking to each other,” Samdani told the board.
He testified that when he started explaining to her how to do the exam, she started touching herself to practice.
"I did not touch her at all,” Samdani said. “I did not tell her to lay down on the bed. I told her in an exam normally people lie flat and then she lay back at the end of the bed.”
A second woman, referred to as "Individual Two," testified that Samdani touched her inappropriately in 2021 while she was shadowing him as a college student.
“I was made aware of the other victim that came forward, my mom told me about the other victim. After reading her story, I noticed there was a similarity in saying I’m going to show you how to do this physical exam and use it as an opportunity to touch a certain area, and that made me realize he most likely was being inappropriate with me and that made me feel comfortable with coming forward,” she said.
Samdani testified that he doesn't recall the second woman shadowing him.
His lawyer pointed out that “individual 2’s” mother has made several disparaging posts on social media about Samdani, and accused “individual 2” of being motivated by her mother’s actions to make something up.
“Would you be surprised to learn that if you printed out the Facebook messages from your mother about Dr. Samdani it would fill this table in here?” Eric Atkinson said before slamming the print outs down on the table. “Would you be surprised to learn that?” he asked “individual 2.”
“I do not know,” she replied.
Board members asked various questions to Samdani during his nearly three hours of testimony.
Dr. Patrick McManus asked Samdani if it was a Pakistani custom to go into a young woman’s hotel room twice and stated that was “not normal for most men.”
Samdani replied that “Individual 1” was “not pleased with the accommodation so I did it."
Board Chair Dr. J. Randolph Clements asked why nobody from the community, including Samdani’s wife, was in the room to show support or testify on his behalf at the hearing.
Samdani said “we didn’t bring anybody. The whole community knows me, they’ve all prayed for me, they asked if I wanted them to come but I said no.”
As for his wife, he testified that she was in the lobby area during the hearing, but the couple is “going through hard time with my son” who is having health challenges.
Dr. Pradeep Pradhan then asked about the young womens’ motivations for making reports to the board.
“What is it in it for them to come and speak against you? I’m finding that hard to process,” Dr. Pradhan said.
“I can’t speak for anyone. I don’t know what they’re thinking, what they’re doing,” Pradhan replied.
CBS6 asked Samdani if he had anything he wanted to say after the decision as he left the hearing with his wife, who is also a doctor, and he said “no.”
Chesterfield Police spokeswoman Liz Caroon said they are investigating claims by three potential victims against Samdani.
Representatives from the Chesterfield Police Department and Chesterfield Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office were at the hearing.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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