DETROIT — Michigan State University broke the law by taking 17 months to notify the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs that one of its medical resident physicians was removed from patient care following allegations of sexual assault.

MSU was alerted to allegations of sexual assault when a patient called the university police department following her appointment with Arpit Saxena on April 3, 2025. MSU removed Saxena from patient care on April 7.

The university did not report him even after they dismissed him entirely in October 2025 or following a university Title IX investigation that found he violated university sexual misconduct policies that concluded in April 2026. State law requires medical providers to report sexual misconduct involving doctors within 30 days of disciplining the physician.

LARA spokesperson Anastasha Osborn said the agency received "information" from MSU on Sept. 9, 2026. The process to initiate a complaint began on Sept. 10 and the formal complaint record was created on Sept.11, 2026.

Osborn said MSU's Health Clinic would fall within the mandatory 30-day reporting Michigan law requires under MCL 333.20175. The law requires reporting within 30 days of disciplinary action that results in a change in employment status or affects clinical privileges. The law does not specify a penalty for failing to meet reporting requirements, Osborn said, and she declined to speak to "potential consequences under other laws."

Without reporting Saxena to the state licensing agency, he could've found a new employer who wouldn't be aware of the allegations against him. Lawyers representing one of the victims, Megan Bonanni of Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers and Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller of Sommers Schwartz, said the public deserves to know why there was such a delay in reporting Saxena.

"If the university knew about serious allegations against Dr. Saxena and failed to notify the state licensing authorities, the public deserves to know why," Bonanni and Esser-Weidenfeller said in a statement. "The purpose of professional oversight is to protect people, not institutions. A university should not be able to control the flow of information in a way that protects its own reputation while potentially leaving others at risk."

Amber McCann, spokesperson for MSU, did not directly answer why the university did not immediately report Saxena to the state.

"Michigan State University is aware of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs’ interest in this matter and is fully prepared to engage with the department," McCann said in an emailed statement.

Saxena previously worked as a resident physician in the family medicine residency program at Cahaba Medical Center in Alabama. The medical center, which is affiliated with the University of Alabama, Birmingham, said in a statement it was aware of the criminal charges against Saxena.

"We are aware of the criminal charges against Arpit Saxena in Michigan, a former resident physician in our family medicine residency program. We are deeply concerned, and our thoughts are with anyone who may have been affected. He was in the program from July 2021 to January 2023 and has had no connection to Cahaba Medical Care since then. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and will continue to do so. Federal privacy laws and personnel confidentiality prevent us from discussing specific patients or employees

The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners and Medical Licensure Commission did not respond to questions about any reported misconduct by Saxena from August 2021 to December 2023, when he held a limited doctor of osteopathic medicine license and a full, unrestricted controlled substance license in the state.

MSU's Title IX investigators took nearly a year to reach a decision on evidence that Saxena sexually assaulted a patient at the MSU Health Care facility, according to documents released to The Detroit News through an open records request.

MSU received a report that Saxena may have violated the university's sexual misconduct policy on April 3, 2025, when a patient called the police to report she'd been assaulted during her appointment. Six weeks later, on May 19, 2025, MSU's Title IX Coordinator signed a formal complaint and the Investigation, Support and Resolution department initiated an investigation, the university documents showed. Investigation, Support and Resolution is a department within the Office for Civil Rights and Title IX Education and Compliance.

MSU held a hearing before a resolution officer on March 16, 2026, university documents show. On April 30, the officer found Saxena had broken university sexual misconduct policies. He appealed the findings on May 22, but the decision was upheld by an equity review officer on Aug. 3.

Saxena was arrested Sept. 10 in Atlanta on charges that he sexually assaulted two patients, Michigan State University Police Chief Mike Yankowski said during a Sept. 11 news conference. He was charged with three counts of third-degree criminal conduct and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving two victims, police said. Each third-degree charge is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, while the fourth-degree charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.

His preliminary examination, where a judge will hear evidence to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial, is scheduled for Oct. 29 at the 54-B District Court in East Lansing. He is held at the Ingham County Jail on a $2 million bond.

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