A doctor has been accused of sexually assaulting more than 200 patients in his care. He's facing both civil and criminal action for his alleged crimes.
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Dr. Derrick Todd practiced in Massachusetts. A Grand Jury has indicted the doctor on two counts of rape, but this just scratches the surface of his alleged crimes. According to the Boston Globe, Todd is facing a civil lawsuit by more than 200 of his former patients.
They claim that the doctor sexually assaulted him. Some of the earliest claims stretch back to when he worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital in 2010. According to patients, Todd conducted unnecessary and sometimes invasive procedures. He allegedly used these as an attempt to assault and grope his patients.
Patient Kristin Fritze claims that the doctor "aggressively" groped her during an examination. "I feel so violated," Fritz told The Associated Press. "I feel so ashamed of myself for not knowing better in the moment to do anything and to be like, yeah, this did feel wrong and I should tell somebody."
Doctor Accused Of Rape
Another patient said that Todd conducted repeated invasive examinations on her private parts and asked her to strip naked.
The patient spoke out against Todd.
"I questioned it because I thought maybe I imagined it, it's a doctor," she said in 2023. "When you trust someone to help you, you see them and you're very vulnerable, and when they violate that trust, and they hurt you instead of heal you, it can be very frightening and not easy to process. I had a hunch. Why did I go back? But that's why I want to say 'it's not your fault' - these people know what they're doing."
However, despite the allegations, Todd continues to practice in healthcare up until June 2023. That's when he finally got sacked from his job.
"It's been a long wait for all of the 228 former patients who have come forward to date," attorney William Thompson, of Lubin & Meyer told the Globe. "And it serves as some vindication or acknowledgment that he is going to be held accountable for what he has done to all the patients who put their trust in him as a physician."
One of his alleged victims also spoke out.
"What I felt and what I am still feeling right now is that it's been a year and a half of feeling like we were going to be silenced and no one was taking this seriously," she said. "We still have a story to tell, but at least someone heard us."
