Columbia University said this week it would provide $100 million in funding for patients abused by former gynecologist Robert Hadden — which victims and their advocates slammed as “sickeningly low” and “grossly inadequate” given the number of corrupt doctors who are potential victims. .
The Ivy League school and Columbia University Irving Medical Center announced Monday that they will notify nearly 6,500 of Hadden’s former patients about his sex-trafficking conviction and sentence in July to 20 years in prison.
As part of its reckoning, the university said it would also hire a neutral investigator to investigate how Hadden’s abuse was allowed to go unchecked for nearly two decades.
Starting in January, victims will be able to apply for settlement payments from the fund, which will be decided by a neutral administrator.
Anthony T. DiPietro, an attorney representing 628 of Hadden’s accusers, said the proposal announced by Columbia president Minouche Shafik was “grossly inadequate.”
If the 6,500 patients were awarded settlement funds, they would walk away with as little as $15,000 each, said DiPietro — who said that over a decade, he has settled 231 Hadden cases for an average of $1.2 million.
“Columbia University’s exposure in these cases is over $1 billion and for them to release a statement, creating a $100 million fund to cover 6,500 patients is frankly offensive,” he told The Post on Tuesday.
Columbia University is preparing a $100 million settlement fund for victims of former gynecologist Robert Hadden.Steven Hirsch
“Columbia has covered up Robert Hadden’s abuse for the past 36 years,” DiPietro claimed. “They cannot be trusted, they have done nothing but lie to patients, expose patients to known predators and hide Hadden’s sexual abuse from law enforcement and the public.”
The university has settled more than 250 claims for $230 million and it still has hundreds of lawsuits against it pending in court over Hadden’s alleged abuse.
But victims who choose to sue rather than try to settle through the new university fund only have until Nov. 23 to take advantage of New York’s Adult Rescue Act if their claims fall outside the statute of limitations.
Hundreds of victims have come forward saying that he abused them while they were his patients.Gregory P. Mango
“I’m sad and kind of sad and sad on Columbia’s part that they’re doing it now, just 10 days before the Adult Rescue Act window closes, and $100 million is so low considering the number of potential victims,” said Marissa Hoechstetter, 44, one of DiPietro’s clients. and the first person to come forward about Hadden’s abuse.
While Columbia’s announcement “is a victory” for other victims who will now know they are not alone, Hoechstetter told The Post the university’s plan is “minimal.”
“I don’t want to downplay it. I think it’s a win and it’s important,” said Hoechstetter — who was abused by Hadden in 2012 during a visit after the birth of her twins and also during other appointments with the disgraced doctor since then.
Victims’ lawyer Anthony T. DiPietro said funding and other plans by the university fall short of what survivors deserve.REUTERS
DiPietro and Hoechstetter said they have advocated for government agencies and hospitals to tell all of Hadden’s patients about his abuse for more than a decade.
“Columbia’s actions are clear,” DiPietro said.
“It’s not a coincidence that after 10 or 11 years of litigation, all the civil cases that we’ve filed … that now, finally 10 days before the Adult Survivors Act window closes, they’re announcing that they’re going to send the notice,” he said. said the lawyer. “They haven’t sent it yet.”
“The only thing Columbia cares about is their money and their $12 billion endowment,” the lawyer said.
However, a university spokesperson insisted that while the ASA window closes at the end of this month, the university fund will remain open for at least one year after it opens in January.
As part of the announcement, Shafik acknowledged that the university had “failed these survivors” and said it was “deeply sorry.”
“We owe it to the survivors and the entire Columbia community to take full account of Hadden’s abuse,” he said.
The University has established a new patient safety policy and program and will work with external experts to conduct transparent monitoring of patient safety.
Hadden was convicted in January of sex-trafficking women so he could abuse them. US Attorney’s Office
Hadden, 64, was convicted in January following a Manhattan federal trial on all four counts of luring women to cross state lines so he could abuse them.
He said he was “deeply sorry” for his abuse and cried when the judge handed down his sentence.
Hadden struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors in a separate state case and was sentenced to no prison time in 2016 for sexually abusing six patients.
Hadden – who also works at New York-Presbyterian Hospital – started in his profession in 1987 and continued until 2012, when he was exposed.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
