$71.5M Fund Set Up for OB-GYN's Victims

Update: A $71.5 million compensation fund will be set up for women abused by former gynecologist Robert Hadden, Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital announced Wednesday. The settlement was reached with 79 women, the AP reports. The hospitals said they're working on settlements with other women who have filed lawsuits. A criminal case against Hadden is still proceeding. "Every patient deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and to be safe and secure," a Columbia University hospital official said. Our original story from September 2020 follows:

A New York City gynecologist accused of molesting scores of patients—including the wife of former presidential candidate Andrew Yang—was arrested Wednesday morning on federal charges. Robert Hadden, who dodged jail time in a 2016 plea deal after 19 patients accused him of abuse, faces six counts of inducing others to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, Fox News reports. According to the indictment, Hadden abused dozens of patients "under the guise of conducting purported gynecological and obstetric examinations," using his position as a Columbia University doctor to convince patients the "sexual abuse he inflicted on them was appropriate and medically necessary." The abuse detailed in the charges started in 1993 and continued until at least 2012, according to the indictment.

The indictment states that Hadden often asked women "detailed, inappropriate questions about their own sexual activities and sexual partners," the AP reports. It states Hadden would have been well aware one victim was a minor—because he delivered her. The indictment identifies the victims only by number, so it's not known whether Evelyn Yang is among them, the New York Times reports. She disclosed earlier this year that the "pervy" doctor had assaulted her when she was seven months pregnant. Hadden, 62, lost his license and was required to register as a sex offender under the 2016 plea deal. Yang was among around 70 plaintiffs who joined a civil suit this year and called for an investigation of Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance's handling of the case. (More gynecologist stories.)