Arpit Saxena, the Michigan State University medical resident accused of sexually assaulting two female patients, continued working at an MSU medical clinic the day after a woman called 911 to report abuse to campus police, a university spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press.
The first victim called 911 about 6 p.m. April 3, 2025, from outside the MSU Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Clinic at 4660 S. Hagadorn Road in East Lansing. She said she had just left an appointment with Saxena, and alleged that he assaulted her during treatment, according to Mike Yankowski, MSU's chief of police and executive director of public safety.
The next day — April 4, 2025 — Saxena went to work at the clinic and continued seeing patients, said Amber McCann, an MSU
spokesperson and the university's director of issues management.
"Saxena was in a clinical setting on Friday, April 4, 2025, which means he would have seen patients," McCann said.
The MSU Department of Police and Public Safety notified the university's Civil Rights Department and Human Resources Department of the woman's allegations that morning, which set into motion a "coordinated and complex" response protocol, McCann said.
Leaders from HR and the Civil Rights Department had to complete their own investigation before the MSU Office of Health Sciences and the MSU Health Care triage response team could be convened to consider whether Saxena should be barred from treating patients.
It took four days — from Thursday, April 3, 2025, when police received the first assault allegation, until April 7, 2025 — for MSU to remove Saxena from patient care, she said.
"Saxena [was] removed from his role of seeing patients on Monday, April 7, 2025," McCann said. After that, "Saxena never resumed patient care and was dismissed by Michigan State University."
To Valerie von Frank of Okemos, it's disturbing that Saxena was able to continue treating patients after the first assault was reported to police.
Her daughter is among the hundreds of girls and women who were sexually abused over the course of three decades by MSU sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar under the guise of medical care. Von Frank now serves as executive director of Parents of Sister Survivors Engage (POSSE), an advocacy group created in the fallout of the Nassar case.
"You cannot see patients when you have this hanging over you," von Frank said. "Period."
She questioned why MSU didn't immediately suspend Saxena's access to patients while the investigation was underway, and said she's been discussing the case with other members of POSSE.
"We still have so many questions," von Frank said. Among the most pressing of them is this: In that four-day gap between April 3 and April 7, did Saxena molest anyone else?
Saxena treated 105 patients as MSU resident
The timing of the second alleged sexual assault remains unclear.
McCann would not provide details to the Detroit Free Press about when, exactly, the second woman was assaulted or whether it took place during the four-day gap between the first victim's 911 call to police and when Saxena was barred from patient care on April 7, 2025.
"MSU has a responsibility under HIPAA to protect patient confidentiality, and I am unable to reveal personally identifiable information about patients," McCann said. "As I previously confirmed, a report was made in April 2025 and a report was made in May 2025, regarding assaults that occurred in April 2025."
Saxena, 39, was an osteopathic manipulative medicine resident at MSU from July 2024 until April 7, 2025, McCann said.
He was charged Sept. 3, 2026, by the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office on three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct from two allegations of sexual assault during his time as resident physician in the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.
McCann said he treated 105 patients from July 2024 to April 2025.
"The university provided written notice to all patients of criminal charges filed against Saxena and provided information for any patient who wished to follow up," she said.
Anyone with concerns about their treatment under Saxena's care is urged to call the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety hotline at 844-996-7873 or send an email to tips@police.msu.edu. Support and resources are available through the Center for Survivors by calling 517-372-6666.
"Please know that regardless of when the misconduct occurred and when you choose to come forward, you will be met with empathy, understanding, and compassion," said MSU Police Detective Sgt. Aaron Schroeder.
Why it took 16 months to bring charges
It's unclear where Saxena lived in the span of 16 months between April 3, 2025, when police began investigating the first sexual assault allegation, and when the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office charged him in September.
"When he was dismissed from Michigan State University, I'm not sure where he went, specifically," said Yankowski, the MSU police chief, during a Sept. 11 news conference.
"We do know where he did have some residency during that time period, but I'm not sure where he went after that."
Documents filed in 54-B District Court in East Lansing show that Saxena's mailing address was in Centreville, Alabama, said Scott Hughes, the community outreach coordinator for the prosecutor's office.
"I'm not aware of how long he was out of the state of Michigan," said Yankowski, adding that the department had been "actively trying to contact and locate" Saxena.
Saxena was detained Sept. 10 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as he tried to flee the country, U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the Detroit Free Press.
Officers stopped him as he attempted to board a plane bound for Amsterdam. He was taken to the Clayton County Jail in Jonesboro, Georgia, where he remained as of Sept. 20, awaiting extradition to Michigan to face criminal charges.
District court records list Michael E. Carter of the Detroit-based Honigman law firm as Saxena's attorney. The Detroit Free Press reached out to Carter, but did not get an immediate response.
Von Frank said she's also alarmed that authorities weren't tracking Saxena's whereabouts as the investigation unfolded and wonders why it took so long to bring charges against Saxena.
"What were they doing?" von Frank asked. "Did the prosecutor have follow-up questions that delayed the investigation for a year? Was the university dragging their heels on the investigation?"
At the Sept. 11 news conference, Yankowski said the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety submitted evidence to prosecutors in August 2025, seeking a warrant for Saxena's arrest that didn't come for more than a year.
County Prosecutor John Dewane said in an emailed statement to the Detroit Free Press that more evidence was needed to charge Saxena than initially was submitted by police.
“After our office conducted an initial review of the case submitted in August 2025, we requested that the MSU Police Department continue to gather information and evidence regarding potential criminal charges," the statement said.
"Over the following months, MSU Police provided our office with additional, supplementary investigative reports which continued through May of 2026. Thereafter, our office analyzed and assessed the materials provided to us by MSU Police Department in order to make a determination as to whether criminal charges could be sustained. The time required to review a file depends heavily on the volume and complexity of the evidence."
Sexual assaults in medical settings fit a pattern
Megan Bonanni is an attorney and partner at the Royal Oak-based law firm Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers, who represented the Survivors’ Creditor Committee, which included more than 400 women and girls abused by Nassar. She said details of the Saxena case are "just emerging" and said she wouldn't be surprised to see more people come forward to report that they also were sexually assaulted.
"We are waiting for the details to come forward," she said. "But I can tell you it fits that pattern that I've seen in these other cases. The abuse is permitted because of this deep trust that patients have with their physicians. ... And even if they have a suspicion that something is inappropriate, the reverence that individuals have for their physicians stops them from saying anything, from complaining or from even saying something during the exam."
It's "a recipe for disaster," Bonanni said, when doctors have private access to patients without a nurse or other medical professional in the room to ensure medical care is appropriate and above board.
However, she is encouraged to see that MSU Police established a hotline for potential other victims to report sexual assault.
"To come out of the gate with a public invitation (to report cases) is a blessing for victims,' she said. "It is a great healing mechanism for victims of assault and abuse.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com.Subscribe to the Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU doctor treated patients day after woman reported sexual assault
