Hospital Agrees to $165M Fund for Victims of Gynecologist

The hospital system that employed Robert Hadden and 147 women who said the gynecologist sexually abused them have agreed to a $165 million settlement. Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital said the money will go into a compensation fund to be shared among his patients, CNN reports. "We deeply regret the pain that Robert Hadden's patients suffered and hope that these resolutions will provide some measure of support for the women he hurt," the university’s medical center said Friday in a statement.

The hospital system and 79 women previously had agreed to a $71.5 million settlement. "This is just the beginning," said a lawyer for more than 230 former patients who have nearly all been part of the two settlements. Hadden's patients numbered in the thousands, Anthony DiPietro said, adding that "many aren't even aware of how they were sexually exploited." Prosecutors have accusing Hadden of singling out young and vulnerable victims, per USA Today, including a girl he had delivered. He's scheduled for trial next year on six counts of inducing others to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. His lawyers did not immediately comment. (More gynecologist stories.)