Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
More than 200 people have joined the sexual abuse lawsuit against a former Brigham rheumatologist
Victims say the former Dr. Derrick Todd performed unnecessary and inappropriate pelvic and breast exams.
The number of people accusing former Brigham and Women’s Hospital rheumatologist Dr. Derrick Todd of performing unnecessary pelvic and breast exams has risen to 206, The Boston Globe reported.
Bill Thompson, the lead counsel on the case, filed a complaint with the Suffolk Superior Court Wednesday that combined all previous lawsuits filed against Todd since last fall, according to the Globe. The plaintiffs include three men and one nonbinary person, Thompson told the newspaper.
Sexual abuse allegations against Todd were first reported by the Globe in October. The prominent rheumatologist quit his job at the Brigham in July when the hospital threatened to fire him after investigating two complaints submitted by physicians at the hospital.
Advertisement:
In addition to allegedly performing unnecessary and intimate exams on patients, which victims said amounted to sexual assault, Todd saw patients outside of regular hours and texted them “personal and invasive questions,” according to the new complaint acquired by the Globe. The exams were also allegedly carried out without a chaperone, gloves, or lubricant, and inappropriate breast exams were allegedly performed on both adults and teenagers, the Globe reported.
Since complaints were filed against him last April, Todd has faced investigations by the Suffolk County district attorney and the Boston Police Department, the Globe reported. Several malpractice lawsuits — which amounted to over 100 plaintiffs — were filed against him last fall, also naming the hospitals where Todd worked as defendants.
Advertisement:
Todd’s alleged victims have said that he “performed inappropriate pelvic examinations, breast examinations and rectal examinations on patients,” according to court documents. The new lawsuit claims Todd also performed unnecessary testicular and rectal exams, the Globe reported.
“These examinations were performed for his own sexual gratification,” one of the lawsuits reads.
Another suit filed in October in Suffolk Superior Court called Todd a “serial sexual predator” and alleged that he groomed the patient, made her undress in front of him, and groped her breasts and genetalia for “no medical purpose.”
Todd’s lawyer has denied the allegations, telling the Globe that “[Todd] will defend his care as the case progresses through the Superior Court.”
Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Charles River Medical Associates, places where Todd worked, are among the three dozen defendants named in the new lawsuit, the Globe reported. Court documents say the hospitals breached their duty of care when they allowed inappropriate examinations to take place. The new suit alleges that there was some knowledge of his activities as far back as 2010, according to the Globe.
Todd agreed not to practice medicine in Massachusetts or any other state in September.
Advertisement:
“The first reports of any possible misconduct by Dr. Todd were received last spring, at which time we immediately began an investigation into the allegations,” a spokesperson for Mass General Brigham, Brigham and Women’s parent company, told the Globe. “We had no reports of these troubling allegations prior to this time.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com