A group of women allege in a class action lawsuit that a Boston-based doctor performed inappropriate physical examinations on them that weren’t medically necessary.
The suit alleges that Dr. Derrick Todd — who worked as a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital until his departure in July — gave pelvic, breast and rectal exams for his own sexual gratification under the guise of providing medical care to patients. The patients suing say the behavior, which they say included harmful and offensive touching, amounted to sexual assault.
Andrew Meyer, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said more than 100 women have joined the suit. Todd went “well beyond the normal examinations,” Meyer said, and some patients felt coerced into allowing him to undress them and engage in unnecessary breast exams, pelvic exams or both.
“Every one of these women felt that they were alone,” Meyer said.
The complaint, filed Friday, follows two other lawsuits filed against Todd last week. One of those similarly accuses him of sexual assault under the auspices of medical care. Jonathan Sweet, a lawyer at Keches Law Group who filed that suit, said he expects at least 10 of Todd’s former patients to join the case but could not yet give a firm number.
The third lawsuit was filed by a single plaintiff, who alleges that during her time as Todd’s patient from November to July, he made sexually inappropriate remarks to her, coerced her to strip naked in from of him in the exam room and performed medically unnecessary exams that involved fondling her breasts and genitalia.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital is listed as a co-defendant in all three lawsuits, along with two other practices where Todd worked. The suits allege that the inappropriate acts took place from at least as far back as 2011 through this July.
A fourth suit that was filed against Todd in September by an unnamed patient has been sealed, The Boston Globe reported.
Todd’s attorney, Ingrid Martin, said in a statement that he has fully cooperated with all investigations.
“Over the course of his twenty year career in medicine, Dr. Derrick Todd has been recognized as a skilled and accomplished rheumatologist, internist, and primary care physician,” Martin said.
“He is confident that when all the facts are considered — or even litigated — these allegations will be proven to be without merit,” she added. “All of that will take place in the appropriate forums and not in the context of a media frenzy or a rush to judgement.”
Dr. Charles Morris, the chief medical officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said the hospital began an internal investigation immediately after it received two anonymous complaints about Todd’s conduct.
“He was then placed on administrative leave once we learned more and, upon completion of that initial investigation, we made a decision to terminate him,” Morris said in a statement.
Todd’s leave at Brigham and Women’s Hospital began in June; his employment ended in July.
Charles River Medical Associates, a group practice where Todd worked that specializes in internal medicine, said it did not receive or become aware of a complaint of inappropriate conduct by Todd through his last day at the practice.
“We are disappointed and saddened by these disturbing allegations and recognize the courage it takes for these patients to come forward. Nothing is more important to Charles River Medical Associates than the health and safety of those patients who receive care at our practice,” it said in a statement.
It added that it has been reaching out to patients and providing them with opportunities to report their concerns.
Morris said Brigham and Women’s Hospital has also reached out to Todd’s current and former patients to speak with them about the care they received and connect them to additional services.
“We deeply regret the harm Dr. Todd’s actions has caused our patients and their families,” he said. “We take our duty to care for our patients and keep them safe extremely seriously. We have, and always will, act decisively on any allegations of misconduct, as we did in this case.”
Todd signed a voluntary agreement last month with the state medical board to stop practicing medicine. The agreement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
He is not the only doctor who has faced allegations of sexual assault. A California doctor who specialized in treating members of the LGBTQ community was charged last month with sexually assaulting nine male patients under the guise of necessary medical exams.
In July, Robert Hadden, a former obstetrician at Columbia University, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for enticing victims to cross state lines so he could sexually abuse them. A trial revealed that Hadden had sexually abused dozens of patients over more than two decades. ProPublica reported last month that more than 245 patients have alleged that Hadden abused them.
