Over ten years ago, Kristin Fritz had back pain and went to see a specialist recommended by her doctor at Brigham and Women as Hospital in Boston.
The appointment with the doctor Derrick Todd had a regular day for the 37-year-old woman from New Hampshire. But as Todd got closer, he touched her chest forcefully, she said, and it seemed like he liked it too much.
Last year, when the hospital talked to her about Todd, she realized that a boundary had been passed. She had someone with her.
“I feel really hurt,” she told The Associated Press. “I feel really bad for not doing anything when I knew something was wrong and I should have told someone. ”
The Associated Press usually doesn’t say the names of people who may have been sexually abused, but Fritz said it was okay to use her name. She is one of over 200 women and a few men who have joined a combined lawsuit against Todd in Massachusetts’ Suffolk Superior Court.
The lawsuit accuses Todd of doing unnecessary exams on patients, like checking their pelvic floor, breasts, testicles, and rectum. And there are several lawsuits like this from last year.
It is claimed that Todd, a former doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, started mistreating patients in 2010. His job was to treat muscle, joint, and bone problems. Also, it said that many other people, including Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Charles River Medical Associates, knew about the abuse but did not do anything to stop it.
“It’s a lot of people who trust Dr. [name]” William Thompson of Lubin & Meyer in Boston said that Todd and others had their trust broken for someone’s selfish reasons.
“I also wonder how this could have been happening at the hospital or practice group for so long without anyone noticing that something strange was going on,” he added. “But they let him keep doing it for many years to many people. ”
Todd’s lawyer, Anthony Abeln, said Todd will not talk about this problem in the news. He will protect himself in court.
In April 2023, Brigham and Women’s got two complaints about Todd from people who didn’t give their names. The hospital started looking into it. Todd was told he needed someone else in the room when he does sensitive exams. In June, he was told to take a break from work, and a month later, he lost his job. The hospital told the Department of Public Health, the state Board of Registration in Medicine, law enforcement, and his current and former patients.
In September, Todd agreed to stop practicing medicine anywhere in the country with the Board of Registration in Medicine. Todd has not been accused of any crimes, but the police have talked to some of his previous patients.
Last year, The Boston Globe said that Todd was being looked into by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. A person from the office said they won’t talk about the case.
“We are very concerned about the troubling accusations of bad behavior by Dr. [last name]” The hospital said Todd’s name in a statement. “We are committed to taking good care of our patients and making sure they are safe in our care. ” We will always take quick action if someone says we did something wrong, just like we did in this situation.
The Charles River Medical Associates said they didn’t know about any complaints of “inappropriate behavior” by Todd and they spoke to patients to ask about their concerns.
“We feel very upset and sorry about these troubling claims. We admire the bravery of the patients who spoke out. ” This was stated in a release.
Thompson said the people who were hurt are as young as teenagers and as old as women in their 60s. The lawsuit claimed that Todd would earn their trust, and then become their only doctor, even though he didn’t need to do the exams he did.
One of them was a 33-year-old woman from Massachusetts who had a hard time finding a doctor during the pandemic. She was happy when Todd called to help her with the tingling and numbness in her arms and hands.
For more than two years, Todd was her main doctor and gynecologist. The lawsuit claimed that the abuse got worse when she went for her appointments, including having her vagina examined multiple times. She said Todd would often make inappropriate comments about her body, ask her to take off her clothes, and make sure she was alone during exams.
“It really affected every part of my life because it takes up all of my thoughts and affects my self-confidence,” said the woman. She reported Todd to the medical board after talking to her gynecologist and realizing something was not right.
Ever since I found out there were other doctors and Todd quit being a doctor, I feel much better even though I still find it hard to deal with. “It’s really hard just to think about work,” she said. “I’m really, really, really having a hard time today. ”
Regarding Fritz, she admitted that the experience will always be with her for the rest of her life. However, she finds comfort in knowing that Todd is already facing consequences for what he did.
“You were a respected doctor at a top hospital. ” You hurt and mistreated many, many, many patients. “Fritz said Todd is not right. ” To me, justice would mean that he can never work again. He should never be able to do this to women or any other patient again.