Add The New York Post on Google A top Manhattan hospital has agreed to pay over $1 billion to hundreds of patients sexually abused by a disgraced pedophile urologist — admitting it failed to stop the sicko doctor, federal officials said this week.
The settlement announced by the US Department of Justice Monday formally closes a criminal civil rights probe into Weill Cornell Medicine following Darius Paduch’s federal conviction and life sentence for preying on over 50 male patients — including many minors — from at least 2009-2019.
“As the public has seen time and again, when medical institutions fail to implement and enforce robust safeguards to protect patients from sexual abuse, victims suffer unspeakable harms, and the public trust in the doctor-patient relationship is undermined,” Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
The hospital admitted that complaints about Paduch had existed for years — including that he had masturbated patients under the guise of medical exams — but that its policies at the time did not require the reports be escalated or “appropriately investigated,” allowing him to continue seeing patients, according to the settlement.
One patient in his 20s reported in 2018 that Paduch cultivated a “father-figure” relationship with him and had invited him on his boat and masturbated in front of him years earlier, the court papers state — noting that Paduch had written off $50,000 of that victim’s medical bills.
Some of the complaints came from Weill Cornell staff, including that Paduch had once asked the husband of a hospital obstetrician to masturbate as he watched and reports of inappropriate behavior with staff, “such as exposing his backside,” the document states.
The feds said that “since learning of Paduch’s sexual abuse, WCM has paid or agreed to pay victims over $1 billion to settle civil claims to date” and as such will “forgo a further monetary penalty.”
The hospital also committed to spending $30 million to create an “Institute for Safe Patient Care and Patient Empowerment” to address detection and prevention of sexual abuse and misconduct by medical professionals.
“Weill Cornell Medicine is a safer organization today than it was when these events occurred,” said Cornell University President Michael I. Kotlikoff and Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine Dr. Robert Harrington in a joint message sent to hospital staff on Monday.
“As the US Attorney has acknowledged, we have already implemented significant reforms to enhance patient safety and prevent future misconduct.”
Attorney Anthony DiPietro, who represents over 400 patients who accused Paduch of abuse, said that “for years, Paduch survivors have maintained that Weill Cornell administrators failed to protect patients despite repeated warnings about his conduct.
“Today’s announcement sends a clear message that medical institutions cannot ignore heinous crimes, shield and facilitate perpetrators, betray the patients who trust them and expect to escape accountability,” DiPietro said.
