A prominent Boston-area doctor accused in multiple lawsuits of sexually assaulting more than 200 former patients has been indicted by a grand jury on rape charges.
Dr. Derrick Todd is accused of assaulting two women during examinations at Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham, Mass., in December 2022 and June 2023, the Middlesex County District Attorney said Thursday. Announced.
Mr Todd, a rheumatologist, appeared in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday after surrendering to police the night before.
At the time of the alleged assault, both women underwent pelvic exams or pap smears by a doctor. NBC Boston reported.
The patients claimed that the tests were beyond “normal.”
One of the women endured so much pain that she screamed for Todd to stop, but the doctor didn't listen and continued with the test.
The second patient did not consent to Dr. Todd performing certain tests, but claimed the doctor proceeded with the tests despite her refusal, the newspaper reported.
Todd has pleaded not guilty to two rape charges.
He was held on $10,000 bail.
The judge ordered Todd to surrender his passport, have no contact with the alleged victims, and surrender all medical licenses.
Allegations of abuse by Todd date back to 2010, but only surfaced in 2023 after Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital received an anonymous complaint.
Todd, the former chief of clinical rheumatology at Boston Hospital, resigned in 2023 after 14 years after two other doctors questioned the appropriateness of pelvic exams for rheumatology patients. The Boston Globe reported.
More than 200 of Todd's former patients have accused him of performing unnecessary pelvic floor therapy, breast exams, testicular exams, and rectal exams.
The accusers include more than 200 women and several men ranging in age from teenagers to 60 years old.
Lawyers for 180 former patients said the two rape charges are just the beginning of the doctors' legal battle.
“While this is just the beginning of the criminal case against Dr. Todd, it will help vindicate the civil lawsuit Rubin & Meyer is pursuing on behalf of many former patients,” said attorney William Thompson. said. “It's basically a story about a doctor abusing his position and taking advantage of patients who trust him for his own sexual gratification.”
Todd voluntarily ceased practicing medicine in Massachusetts in September 2023.
An announcement was made in the letter To the Medical Registration Board.
The class action lawsuit against Todd also names the hospital as a defendant for knowing about the abuse and failing to stop it.
Todd was fired from the hospital in July 2024.
with post wire
