More than 200 women and several men accuse doctors in a lawsuit of sexual abuse and unnecessary exams

BOSTON — More than a decade ago, Kristin Fritz was struggling with pain in her spine and visited a rheumatologist recommended by her doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The visit to Dr. Derrick Todd started normally for the 37-year-old New Hampshire woman. But as Todd progressed, he aggressively groped her breasts, she said, to the point that he “seemed to enjoy that a little too much.”

It wasn’t until last year, when the hospital contacted her about Todd, that she realized a line had been crossed. And she wasn’t the only one.

“I feel so violated,” she told The Associated Press. “I’m so ashamed of myself because I didn’t know better in the moment to do something and say, yes, this felt wrong and I should tell someone.”

The Associated Press does not generally identify possible victims of sexual abuse, but Fritz allowed her name to be used. She is one of more than 200 women and several men who have joined a consolidated lawsuit against Todd in the Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts.

The lawsuit, which combines several lawsuits filed last year, accuses Todd of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast exams, testicular exams and rectal exams on patients.

It alleges that Todd — a former rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital whose specialty is treating inflammatory conditions of the muscles, joints and bones — began abusing patients in 2010. It also charged several dozen other defendants, including Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Charles River. Medical Associates, for knowing about the abuse and failing to stop it.

“It’s an extraordinary number of people who put their trust in Dr. Todd, and who had that trust violated solely for his own personal, selfish gratification,” said William Thompson of Lubin. & Meyer, whose Boston-based firm represents most of the victims.

“The other thing that strikes me about this case is how this could have happened in the hospital and on the exercise group for so long without anyone realizing that anything suspicious was going on,” he continued. “Yet they allowed him to continue doing this week after week, month after month, year after year, for more and more victims.”

An attorney for Todd, Anthony Abeln, said his client “would not litigate this case in the media, but will defend his concern as the case progresses through the Massachusetts Superior Court system.”

In April 2023, Brigham and Women’s received two anonymous complaints about Todd and launched an internal investigation. Todd was told he could not administer sensitive exams without a proctor. He was placed on administrative leave in June and fired a month later. The hospital said it had also notified the Ministry of Health, the State Board of Registration in Medicine, law enforcement and its current and former patients.

In September, Todd reached a voluntary agreement with the Board of Registration in Medicine to cease practicing medicine anywhere in the country. No criminal charges have been filed against Todd, but several former patients have been interviewed by police.

The Boston Globe reported last year that Todd was under investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. A spokesperson for the office said it would not comment on the case.

“We are deeply disturbed by the disturbing allegations of harmful conduct committed by Dr. Todd,” the hospital said in a statement. “We take our duty to care for our patients and keep them safe very seriously. We always have and always will. to act decisively on allegations of misconduct, as we have done in this case.”

Charles River Medical Associates said it was never made aware of complaints about “inappropriate behavior” by Todd and said it had contacted patients to report their concerns.

“We are deeply disturbed and saddened by these disturbing allegations and recognize the courage it took for these patients to come forward,” the report said in a statement.

Thompson said the victims ranged in age from teenagers to women in their 60s. The lawsuit alleged that Todd would gain their trust, go beyond treating their rheumatic conditions and become their sole doctor while performing invasive, unnecessary exams.

Among them was a 33-year-old woman from Massachusetts who struggled to find a doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was glad Todd called to help her with symptoms of tingling and numbness in her arms and hands.

For two years, Todd became her primary doctor and gynecologist and, the lawsuit says, the abuse intensified during her visits — including repeated vaginal exams. She said Todd would routinely comment on her body, ask her to undress and ensure she was unescorted during exams.

“It honestly affected every part of my life because it consumed every part of me from my self-confidence,” said the woman, who reported Todd to the medical board after discussing his behavior with her gynecologist and realizing that something was wrong.

Since learning there were many more and that Todd would no longer practice medicine, she said a “weight has been lifted off my chest,” although she is having a hard time coping. “Even just thinking about work is challenging,” she says. “I’m really having a hard time today.”

As for Fritz, she acknowledged that the experience would stay with her for the rest of her life. But she takes comfort in the fact that Todd is already paying a price for his actions.

“You were a trusted medical professional in a world-class institution. You have abused and violated many, many, many patients. It’s just not right,” Fritz said of Todd. “To me, justice means that he can never practice again. That he was never able to do this to women or to any other patient he had done this to.