Columbia University gynecologist Robert Hadden had 301 additional victims, a new lawsuit against the Ivy League school alleges.
The suit filed Tuesday in New York High Council accuses Columbia of “covering up the sexual abuse” of “the most prolific sexual predator in the history of New York State.”
Hadden was sentenced to 20 years in prison in July for sexually assaulting more than 200 patients while working at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The abuse began in the 1980s and he resigned in 2016.
Columbia agreed to pay a $72 million settlement to 79 of the doctor’s victims in 2021, and reached a $165 million settlement with 147 patients the following year.
In announcing the latest lawsuit, attorney Anthony DiPietro claims that Columbia orchestrated a cover-up that was widespread and lasted for years.
“Columbia has shown very clearly that all they care about is their money and if that is the case I want to hit them as hard as possible where it hurts them the most and hopefully they don’t let this happen again in the future to happen. future,” DiPietro told the newspaper Wall Street Journal
A new civil lawsuit claims ex-Columbia gynecologist Robert Hadden claimed another 301 victims, making him the most prolific sexual abuser in New York State history
Robert Hadden, 64, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in July after being convicted of sexually abusing vulnerable and trusting patients
The new lawsuit alleges that hospital administrators, nurses and other doctors at Columbia University helped cover up his abuse
Now that the third civil case involving Hadden has been filed against Columbia, they allege that hospital administrators, nurses and other doctors helped cover up his abuse.
Minouche Shafik, president of Columbia University, and Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, issued a joint statement in September addressing the crimes.
“Columbia continues to grapple with the extent of the damage inflicted on the patients of former physician Robert Hadden. “Nothing can excuse the fact that these patients were mistreated in an environment where they should have been safe and cared for,” they wrote.
“We offer our deepest apologies to all his victims and their loved ones.”
In January, Hadden was convicted on four counts of enticing victims to cross state lines so he could sexually abuse them.
During his sentencing, he cried and said: ‘I am very sorry for all the pain I have caused.’
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said the case was unprecedented and involved “outrageous, heinous, extraordinary, depraved sexual abuse.”
He said at least 245 women Hadden had treated said they had been abused.
The additional 301 victims in the latest lawsuit bring the total number of victims to more than 500.
That’s about the same number of survivors as the case against Larry Nassar, a former doctor at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics.
Nine victims testified at the trial, describing how Hadden abused them during gynecological treatments beginning in the late 1980s at leading hospitals, including Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Allegations of misconduct by Hadden first came to light in 2012. Hadden was indicted on state charges in 2014.
Evelyn Yang, the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, revealed that she survived Hadden’s assault
Nine victims testified at his criminal trial, describing how Hadden abused them during gynecological treatments, beginning in the late 1980s, at leading hospitals
In 2016, he pleaded guilty to two low-level felonies and a misdemeanor in a deal that required him to give up his medical license but required no jail time and kept him off the state’s sex offender registry.
Outrage over this deal only gained traction during the #MeToo movement of 2017.
In 2020, federal prosecutors were on the verge of a grand jury indictment on charges based on the fact that some patients at his New York offices had entered the city from suburbs in other states.
According to trial testimony, Hadden benefited from the prestige of the hospitals where he worked.
One of his accusers was Evelyn Yang, whose husband, Andrew Yang, ran unsuccessfully for president as a Democrat in 2020. Hadden said Hadden sexually assaulted her years ago when she was seven months pregnant.
To date, these hospitals have agreed to pay more than $236 million to settle civil claims from more than 200 former patients.