The lawsuit accuses Derrick Todd of abusing patients starting in 2010. (representative picture)

More than 200 women and several men have signed a lawsuit claiming a Boston doctor performed inappropriate physical examinations on them that were not medically necessary.according to nbc bostonThe lawsuit alleges that Dr. Derek Todd, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital until he left last July, performed unnecessary pelvic floor treatments, breast exams, testicular exams and rectal exams on patients. It also accuses Todd of abusing patients starting in 2010.

The lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts Superior Court in Suffolk. In addition to Todd, the lawsuit accuses dozens of other defendants, including Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Charles River Medical Associates, of knowing about the abuse and failing to stop it.according to nbcthe patient who sued said the behavior included harmful and offensive touching and amounted to sexual assault.

In April 2023, more and more allegations of inappropriate sexual contact began to surface from Todd’s female patients. The former doctor was then told he could not carry out the sensitive examination without a guardian. He was placed on administrative leave in June and fired from Brigham and Women’s Hospital a month later. Todd was also forced to leave his private clinical practice at Charles River Medical Associates.

“We are deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations of harmful conduct committed by Dr. Todd,” the hospital said in a statement. “We take our responsibility to care for our patients and keep them safe very seriously. We have and Decisive action will always be taken on any allegations of misconduct, as we did in this case,” it added.

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The Charles River Medical Society said it has never heard of any complaints of “inappropriate behavior” by Todd and said it has contacted patients to report their concerns. “We are deeply disturbed and saddened by these disturbing allegations and recognize the courage it took for these patients to come forward,” the company said in a statement.

The victims ranged in age from teenagers to women in their 60s, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Todd would gain the trust of patients not only to treat their rheumatic diseases but also to become their sole physician while performing invasive, unnecessary tests.

During the exam, he will have the patient take off his clothes or put on a gown. He then subjected patients to completely unnecessary vaginal, breast and rectal examinations that involved excessive and non-clinical forms of touching, the lawsuit alleges.