Nassar victim still getting billed over ‘treatment’
Lansing — Michigan State University fired former sports doctor Larry Nassar more than 16 months ago in the wake of widespread sexual abuse allegations, but the university is still sending bills to at least one of his patients, according to testimony on Monday from a 15-year-old victim.
Speaking during the fifth day of sentencing of Nassar’s sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court, Emma Ann Miller said she began seeing Nassar when she was 10 for a back injury. She saw him for the last time in August 2016, just a month before Nassar was fired from MSU.
“I am possibly the last child you will ever assault,” said Miller, who knew Nassar her whole life. “MSU Sports Medicine charged me for those appointments. My mom is still being billed for those appointments where I was sexually assaulted.”
MSU spokesman Jason Cody responded to Miller’s complaint by telling The Detroit News: “This has been passed on to the people who handle that to address, and I can tell you that patients of former MSU physician Larry Nassar will not be billed.”
Cody also stated patients with outstanding bills “will not be billed” and the university is reviewing whether to issue any refunds to the victims.
The revelation comes as community outrage continues to mount at how MSU has handled one of the biggest scandals to rock the university.
Many are calling on MSU President Lou Anna Simon to resign in the wake of more than 100 victims making statements this week and last about the impact Nassar’s abuse has had on their lives in Ingham County Circuit Court.
Nassar, previously sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges, is facing sentencing in a separate sexual assault case this week in the Ingham County courtroom.
A Detroit News investigation published last week found that reports of sexual misconduct by Nassar reached at least 14 university representatives in the two decades before his arrest.
Among those notified was Simon, who was informed in 2014 that a Title IX complaint and a police report had been filed against an unnamed physician.
Despite growing calls for Simon’s resignation, the MSU Board of Trustees affirmed its support for her Friday, denying any “cover-up” of the Nassar scandal and asking state Attorney General Bill Schuette to investigate the school’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints against the former sports doctor.
On Saturday, one trustee, Mitch Lyons, changed his position and asked Simon to step down.
But civil lawsuits continue to be filed by women and are now nearing 200 against Nassar, MSU and others, said Okemos-based attorneys Mick Grewal and David Mittleman.