The 19-page civil complaint names Todd, Brigham and Women’s, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Mass General Brigham Community Physicians Inc., and Charles River Medical Associates as defendants. It seeks unspecified financial damages for the former patient, who lives in Massachusetts.
A former patient of Dr. Derrick Todd , who left Brigham and Women’s Hospital in July amid allegations that he conducted unnecessary breast and pelvic exams of women, filed a lawsuit against the physician in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging he “sexually exploited, abused, harassed, and molested” her under the guise of medical treatment, according to court records.
Dr. Derrick Todd, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s, is under investigation by the Suffolk County district attorney and the Boston Police Department.
Mass. General Brigham, the health system that includes Brigham and Women’s, said Tuesday that it was reviewing the lawsuit.
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The woman, a rheumatology patient, first saw Todd in November 2022 at Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham, the complaint says.
On the first visit, Todd “began subjecting her to a course of predatory grooming, boundary violating, mental, emotional, and physical sexual abuse that was masked by his position of power and authority over Plaintiff in dire need of treatment,” the lawsuit alleges.
He allegedly asked her a series of “inappropriate, invasive, and exploitative questions” about her appearance and sexual history before having her disrobe while alone with him in an examination room, the complaint alleges.
Todd then “performed a medically unnecessary, unwarranted, non-indicated breast examination,” the complaint alleges.
The examination was conducted without instruments normally used for a gynecological exam, according to the complaint. The woman saw him for multiple follow-up appointments between December 2022 and January 2023, the filing says.
Todd also began speaking by phone with the woman frequently, sometimes daily, and also sent inappropriate text messages, according to the lawsuit.
In December 2022, the woman asked Todd by email why he had performed a Pap smear during her last visit and he assured her that all gynecological and breast examinations “were part of his care and treatment,” the complaint says.
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During each follow-up appointment he allegedly asked the woman “inappropriate sexual questions, made sexualized comments, performed sexualized breast examinations, and performed sexualized gynecological examinations that included digital penetration, all under the guise of medical treatment.”
In January, the woman moved to California for a job but Todd remained in contact, according to the complaint, continuing to “inappropriately” treat her remotely, prescribing medication, and frequently engaging with her through calls and texts, the lawsuit says.
She returned to Massachusetts in June after Todd allegedly pressured her to do so and saw him in his Framingham office multiple times, where he allegedly repeated the prior misconduct, according to the suit.
Todd ultimately abused “countless female patients … in a serial fashion, while carrying out his deviant sexual desires,” the suit alleges.
It alleges the defendants “were aware of Todd’s proclivities to exploit and abuse female patients.”
“The Brigham and Women’s Defendants knew and/or should have known that Defendant Todd had a proclivity to abuse his patients, yet they ignored the warning signs, failed to supervise Defendant Todd, failed to properly train and supervise their staff, and violated the duties they owed to their patients,” the complaint alleges.
Last month, Todd voluntarily agreed to stop practicing medicine in Massachusetts and any other state.
“Dr. Todd has not seen the allegations in any lawsuit filed against him,” his lawyer, Ingrid Martin, said in a recent statement. “Over the course of his career he has been an outstanding rheumatologist and internist. To the extent that anyone is making a claim against him, Dr. Todd believes that he has done nothing wrong and will defend against it vigorously.”
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Brigham and Women’s previously said it had first suspended Todd, who was chief of clinical rheumatology at Brigham’s Faulkner Hospital, and then “terminated” him on July 31 after an initial investigation that was prompted by complaints from two other physicians.
Brigham and Women’s notified the state Board of Registration in Medicine, which licenses and disciplines physicians, of Todd’s departure. The board did not comment on whether Todd is under investigation.
“After receiving two anonymous complaints about Dr. Derrick Todd, we immediately launched an investigation and then placed Dr. Todd on administrative leave once we learned more,” Dr. Charles Morris, the Brigham’s chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs, said in a statement. “We made a decision to terminate his employment after the conclusion of that initial investigation.”
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and the Boston Police Department are also investigating allegations that Todd sexually assaulted multiple patients, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Todd also faces a medical malpractice lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court that was filed on Sept. 29 against Brigham and Women’s and the Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham. The case files have been sealed by Judge Lynn C. Rooney pending a hearing on Oct. 17.
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Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. This breaking story will be updated when more information is released.
Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com.Follow him @cotterreporter. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
Dr. Derrick Todd sued for alleged molestation of female patient
