New York doctor with ties to Bay Area accused of drugging, violating 13 women

A New York doctor, with ties to the Bay Area, is accused of drugging and violating 13 women and videotaping the crimes. 

Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng was living in Santa Clara at one point and finished his residency at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Sutter Health has him listed as a resident that graduated from their program in 2020 and according to investigators, at least one of the sexual assaults took place in the Bay Area.

A woman, identified as Jane Doe, said she was a patient of Dr. Cheng in New York and filed a lawsuit two months ago against the NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital alleging he drugged and sexually abused her inside an exam room.

Now she’s learning her alleged assault was videotaped along with several other patients and acquaintances.

According to Queen’s district attorney, the video discovery came after an acquaintance, or a girlfriend, found videos inside Dr. Cheng’s apartment, showing her trauma.

The DA says they also found narcotics, drugs used to sedate patients in health care settings and videos of at least 13 women being raped or sexually abused.

Six of the women seen in the videos have yet to be identified and at least one of those videos was taken in the Bay Area.

“We know the videos were taking not only one of them in the hospital, but also in Las Vegas in San Francisco, in Thailand, so it's important people reach out to us so we can make identifications,” said Queens DA Melinda Katz.

NBC Bay Area reached out to San Francisco’s district attorney’s office who says, “as a matter of policy, we do not comment on the existence or non existence of possible criminal investigations.”

NBC Bay Area has yet to hear from the California Pacific Medical Center about any complaints they may have received during his residency there.

Dr. Cheng was an intern at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the hospital said Dr. Cheng never participated in sedating patients at their facilities.