Inside the Dr. James Curtis Roberson Lawsuit: How Over 100 Patients Say a Trusted Doctor Crossed the Line

The Roberson case seems more significant than the typical medical malpractice case. Perhaps it’s the length of time involved, the number of patients who are now coming forward, or the subtle detail hidden in the state medical board’s records: a 2018 advisory letter alerting him to the dangers of an unchaperoned breast exam. That letter reads like an overlooked exit sign on an ongoing highway seven years later.

A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed in federal court against Dr. James Curtis Roberson II, a 63-year-old rheumatologist who spent years treating patients in Maryland and Virginia. On April 17, 2026, Basham v. MedStar Health, Inc. was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Roberson and MedStar are both named, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers claim that the class could easily exceed 100 patients. Although one of the lead lawyers, Philip Federico, has stated that the size of the class will depend on how it is defined, the damages sought exceed $5 million.

The named plaintiff is LaShawn Basham. She started seeing Roberson at the MedStar Orthopaedic Institute in Brandywine in 2021 or 2022, seeking assistance in treating Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that results in excruciating pain and exhaustion. The complaint claims that what started out as doctor’s appointments became something completely different. repeated examinations of the breasts for no medical reason. lotion-based full-body massages. According to the filing, inappropriate touching was done “under the guise of medical assessment.” According to the complaint, Basham first thought the tests were essential. It’s difficult to sit with that part. Doctors must be trusted by their patients.

Before the civil lawsuit began, the Maryland Board of Physicians had already developed a case against Roberson. Early in 2025, he was placed on suspension, and by January, he had agreed to have his Maryland medical license permanently revoked. Virginia came next. Roberson denied the most serious accusations made during his testimony under oath, but he acknowledged that he “lost his way.”

Beginning around 2022, he admitted to sending flirtatious emails, having romantic relationships with four patients, and witnessing the erosion of his own boundaries. Federico told reporters, “He was obviously doing it for self-pleasure.” “It got to the point where he couldn’t restrain himself.”

For its part, MedStar Health has exercised caution when making public remarks. After a patient came forward, the organization suspended Roberson in October 2024, fired him following an internal investigation, and then reported him to the state board in November of the same year. MedStar promised in a statement that it would “never tolerate inappropriate behavior” by its providers and expressed gratitude to the patients who came forward. In situations like this, every hospital system employs this kind of language. It’s another matter entirely whether it can withstand the scrutiny of discovery. The lawsuit claims that MedStar disregarded warning indicators, such as that advisory letter from 2018, and the plaintiffs will probably put a lot of pressure on what the system knew and when.

Federico has dealt with similar situations in the past. He represented patients of the late Johns Hopkins gynecologist Nikita Levy and victims of Delaware pediatrician Earl Bradley, two cases that profoundly affected the local communities. Although cooperation in the early stages of litigation can mean different things, it is noteworthy that he has described MedStar as cooperative thus far.

It is more difficult to forecast how this case will change the discourse surrounding institutional oversight. As this develops, it seems as though the most difficult questions aren’t related to any one physician. They are about the paperwork, the systems, the warnings that are filed and then forgotten, and the patients who wondered for years if what transpired in those rooms was typical.