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Patient: Clinic ignored warning about assistant

Posted at 8:06 AM, Mar 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-03 13:34:49-05
SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego dental patient claims that prior to a dental assistant's arrest on charges he molested unconscious patients she had reached out to the clinic, but it did nothing.
 
Luis Ramos, 36, was arrested Feb. 3 on allegations he sexually assaulted an anesthetized 17-year-old girl while working as a dental assistant at Park Boulevard Oral Surgery Center in University Heights.
 
Ramos is facing more than 20 charges involving a dozen additional alleged victims that were added Tuesday. He is accused of molesting 13 women, ages 17 to 62, from January 2015 through January 2016. 
 
The charges include felony sexual penetration, oral copulation, sexual battery of a medically incapacitated person and misdemeanor sexual battery.
 
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday against Ramos, a woman claims she went to the Park Boulevard Oral Surgery Center in June of 2015 to get her wisdom teeth removed. She says she got red flags the moment Ramos started getting her ready for surgery. 
 
The lawsuit seeks damages for sexual harassment, gender violence, hate violence and civil rights violence. The woman is also planning to sue Park Boulevard, but under California law, must provide them with a 90-day notice because they are a healthcare provider. 
 
"I was like 'OK I'll move my hair.' And he was just like, 'No, it's OK, I got it for you.' And he just made a comment saying 'Oh you have really pretty hair.' You know, just not professional at all," the woman said. "(He) made me take off my sweater to give me an IV when he didn't really have to. It was a big sweater, and I could have just moved it, you know?" 
 
She says the feeling got worse when she got home and found a post-it note with Ramos' name and number on it, put there while she was passed out. 
 
"It's sick," she said. "It's sickening." 
 
Her attorney, Dan Gilleon, says she reported it to Park Boulevard, but the clinic did nothing. 
 
"He absolutely knew there was nothing she could do, and he took advantage of that," Gilleon said. 
 
The woman is suing Ramos on allegations he took advantage of her. 
 
"You can't really get less powerful and more vulnerable than when you're put out under anesthesia," Gilleon said. "I mean it's really worse than sleeping. If you were sleeping, at least you could wake up." 
 
Now, the woman wants only one thing from the man accused of crossing the line. 
 
"To ‘fess up," she said. "The truth will set him free." 
 
A representative with Park Boulevard told 10News it cannot discuss the case due to the ongoing investigation, but emphasized it is cooperating fully with the San Diego Police Department.