Insurer Asks Judge to Clear It of Ties to Tustin Gynecologist

Accusing Dr. Ivan C. Namihas of lying on his medical insurance application, the company that approved a policy for the embattled Tustin gynecologist asked a judge Friday to declare the coverage null and void and to clear the company of any legal liabilities.

The legal action came after the Medical Board of California formally voted this week to revoke Namihas’ medical license. Namihas refused to defend himself last month against state charges that he sexually abused or otherwise mistreated more than 60 female patients.

In a civil lawsuit filed in Superior Court, the Southern California Physicians Insurance Exchange alleged that when Namihas applied for insurance with the company in October, he lied on the application.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleged, while Namihas admitted that the state Medical Board was investigating him on a complaint filed by a former patient, he did not fully explain the circumstances of the complaint. Furthermore, the company said, when asked whether he knew of “any incident that might provide a basis for a claim or a suit to be brought against” him, Namihas replied “no.”

Based on his answer, the company insured him.

However, in March--when the company discovered through published articles that dozens of women over the years had lodged sexual misconduct and sexual abuse charges against Namihas--it sent him a letter notifying him that his policy had been dropped, effective Oct. 29, 1991--the day he was approved.

The company alleged in the lawsuit that the policy never went into effect because Namihas knowingly lied on the application.

If it had been told about these allegations and about an investigation by state prosecutors, the lawsuit said, the company “would not have issued a policy to Dr. Namihas.”

Namihas apparently did not agree with the company’s view that he was never insured, because in March he forwarded to the insurer a civil lawsuit filed against him by a former patient, alleging sexual intimacy, sexual molestation and sexual assault, among other things. The patient is seeking more than $1 million in damages.