Lawsuit Filed Against Doctor Charged With Rape, Assault

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. - A woman said she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a local physician, who is under investigation.

On Sept. 17, a 19-year-old woman went to the Urgent Care Clinic on Long Hollow Pike in Goodlettsville, complaining of a cough.

“She ended up receiving a full physical examination, without a female nurse in the room present, by Dr. Charles Cowden without the use of gloves," said the woman's attorney, Roland Mumford. "She claims and alleges she was sexually assaulted.”

The Urgent Care Clinic was raided Sept. 22, and Cowden went to jail. He’s now charged with two counts of rape by fraud and two counts of aggravated assault by fraud.

The 19-year-old patient is now suing Cowden for more than $1 million for what she said happened inside his exam room.

“She's too afraid to go to a doctor again," Mumford said of his client. "We deem this as an element of our complaint -- the intentional emotional distress.”

Mumford said his client is suing not only Cowden, but also the Urgent Care Clinic for negligence.

The 19-year-old, along with two other women, is part of a criminal investigation of Cowden for what was going on inside the clinic and what was coming out of it.

“She did receive a prescription for medication, that I would deem pain pills, for which she never, ever requested,” said her attorney.

Federal investigators are looking into whether Cowden was distributing painkillers to patients, which is separate from the rape case, which local authorities are looking into. Cowden’s medical license has been suspended.

Cowden did not return Channel 4's request for comment.

Cowden is the only doctor at the Urgent Care Clinic who is under investigation.

A Channel 4 I-Team investigation revealed that in the mid-1980s, four Tennessee hospitals either temporarily or permanently barred Cowden from practicing with them.

The state found Cowden had habitual intoxication or personal misuse of drugs that affected his ability to practice medicine.

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