ANN ARBOR, MI — A 91-page police report compiled by University of Michigan police details several reports of sexual misconduct during medical exams by late UM athletic doctor Robert Anderson.

The report, obtained by The Ann Arbor News/MLive through the Freedom of Information Act, includes accounts from former UM students who said Anderson performed unnecessary hernia and prostate exams, including one case where a student-athlete was seeking treatment for a dislocated elbow.

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According to the report, a man who wrestled at the university in the 1970s told UM’s Office for Institutional Equity in 2018 that Anderson was known among some student-athletes as “Dr. Drop Your Drawers.”

“... Because every time you saw him, you would have to 'drop your drawers,” the former wrestler told authorities.

Police interviewed more than 50 people who had contact with Anderson during his tenure.

In a letter sent to UM Athletic Director Warde Manuel in 2018, the former wrestler said he went to Anderson at 17 years old after contracting a form of herpes common to wrestling, the report says. Anderson looked at the cold sores and checked his penis for herpes sores, the report says, and the student wasn’t concerned “as I knew at the time that some forms of herpes manifest themselves there.”

Two years later, the student saw Anderson for a dislocated elbow, the report says. He examined the elbow and also performed penis, hernia and prostate checks, according to the report.

“I found it strange that I needed a penis and hernia check... plus a rubber glove check for when my elbow had dislocated, but I never really gave it much thought,” the former student said in the letter to Manuel.

The letter said the student’s roommate told him about a cross country runner who also saw Anderson, received the same penis and prostate checks and was asked if he had “any homosexual tendencies?”

The former wrestler wrote that his elbow wasn’t healing, and he was referred back to Anderson. Rather than return to the doctor, he said he became “a very cautious one-armed wrestler,” and after going home for the summer, he was cut from the team and stripped of his full-ride scholarship, according to the letter.

“The removal from the team when I was 20 years old took away the only identity I had ever had until that point in time,” the letter said. "It embarrassed the hell out of me in front of my wrestling friends on the Michigan team, and around the country.

“I still feel inferior around them and I have a gnawing urge to explain and apologize to them."

When police later interviewed the former wrestler, he said he’d recently spoken to another former UM student-athlete who had gone on to become a Division I wrestling coach, and that the two compared Anderson to disgraced Michigan State University athletic doctor Larry Nassar.

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When authorities told one former university administrator they were investigating “inappropriate behavior” involving Anderson and his patients, he replied, “I bet there are over 100 people that could be on that list,” the report says.

Other accounts in the police report described incidents of patients’ genitals being fondled, medical examinations being conducted without gloves and other “bizarre” activity.

Other people interviewed by police said they had never heard anything bad about Anderson.

Former UM head football coach Lloyd Carr told investigators he couldn’t think of anything negative to say, and he did not witness, nor hear any rumors about anything inappropriate involving Anderson and patients. Carr added that Anderson was always professional when dealing with player-health related issues, the report states.

Former UM football assistant coach Jerry Hanlon said he never heard any negative comments about Anderson. Former coach Jack Harbaugh said in the report that he had “great admiration” for Anderson.

UM athletic trainer Paul Schmidt said Anderson was “a very incredible doctor” and a “personal friend," according to the report.

Other former coaches interviewed include Frank Maloney, William McCartney and Robert Thornbladh. Maloney told investigators he did not remember Anderson well, and McCartney said he was not sure if he knew Anderson. Thornbladh remembered Anderson as a “competent” physician and didn’t have any negative encounters with Anderson, saying he thought he did a good job, the report says.

UM President Mark Schlissel during a Thursday Board of Regents meeting apologized on behalf of the university to anyone harmed by Anderson.

“As a physician, scientist, father and university president, I condemn all sexual misconduct, especially instances that occur under the purview of our public mission,” Schlissel said. “This type of conduct is reprehensible, and whether it takes place now or in the past, it is unacceptable...

“On behalf of the university, I apologize to anyone who was harmed by Dr. Anderson.”

UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said Friday evening that Schlissel’s apology and his emphasis that" everyone at the university deserves to feel safe and supported" sums up the university’s approach to the situation.

The university asks former patients who may have been abused by Anderson to call 866-990-0111.

The university has said it also is:

Helping any former patients connect with resources, such as counseling, on campus or in their local communities.

Assessing any new information for further review.

Committing to a public accounting of the university’s investigation, in a manner that respects the privacy and confidentiality of the former patients.

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