"Astounding and inexcusable," More than 130 women now claim Dr. Derrick Todd sexually assaulted them
WOBURN - Dr. Derrick Todd did not show up for a hearing in Woburn court Tuesday, but cases against the rheumatologist with a decades-long career in Boston are stacking up. Dozens of former patients have filed lawsuits saying he sexually molested them as far back as 2011.
"She has undergone mental health treatment as a result of what has happened to her," said attorney Stacy Pietrowicz in Woburn court Tuesday. Her lawsuit, which involves an anonymous victim, names not only Todd, but also places where he worked, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital in Boston, and Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham.
The complaint says "...he repeatedly performed invasive breast exams unrelated to the medical issues for which she sought treatment..." Other patients have shared similar stories. Attorneys say the number of victims had surpassed 130 by Tuesday, and they predict that number will grow.
"The idea that this went on and nobody put a stop to it, nobody was aware of it, is astounding and inexcusable," said attorney William Thompson, who has filed a class action lawsuit with his firm Lubin & Meyer.
Attorney Jonathan Sweet, with Keches Law Group, has filed another class action lawsuit. "There's a real reluctance and embarrassment to come forward," he said. "But now that many brave women have done that, the other ones who've been affected and who've been suffering in silence, are comfortable now to come forward," he said.
Dr. Todd, who also worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was fired after the hospital did its own investigation. In a statement, Charles River said it never got any complaints about him. He's not facing criminal charges, but some victims say they've been talking with police.