US (Washington Insider Magazine) —New lawsuits have been filed against urologist Dr. Darius Paduch for allegedly sexually abusing child and adult patients in New York hospitals, bringing the number of victims to 70.
New lawsuits have been added against Dr. Darius Paduch for allegedly sexually abusing patients in New York hospitals, bringing the victims to 70.
The urologist was originally arrested in April under the pretext of abusing patients between 2015 and 2019. Paduch was then charged with groping minors and adult males under the pretext of receiving medical treatment.
In those years Paduch worked at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and at Northwell Health. A group of 28 new lawsuits were filed Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court against those two medical institutions involving more former patients who say the doctor sexually assaulted them and that the hospitals were negligent in allowing the incidents to occur.
The hospitals “knew or should have known that Dr. Paduch could use his position as an employee…to sexually abuse his patients,” the lawsuits allege. But the institutions “did not take reasonable steps to protect” the victims, the documents cited by the New York Post state.
Criminal charges were filed against Paduch in April after a 16-year-old intern first sued him in December, alleging that the doctor sexually abused him between 2015 and 2017 while he worked at NewYork-Presbyterian.
A Northwell Health representative said the doctor no longer works there, adding that the hospital will cooperate with authorities as part of their investigation.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a similar case, in early August Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng was charged in Queens with drugging and sexually assaulting several women, including his own patients and others he contacted online, and recording the attacks.
Last month Robert Hadden, a former gynecologist at New York’s Columbia University, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty on federal charges of sexual abuse of patients.
In October nearly 150 women who reported sexual abuse or misconduct by former gynecologist Hadden reached a $165 million settlement with the hospital system that employed him, Columbia University announced.
In another similar case, in August 2022, the doctor of Argentine origin Ricardo Cruciani, who had been accused of sexual abuse of several patients in New York, Jersey and Pennsylvania, committed suicide in Rikers prison in New York.
This article is authored by EI Diario
