A prominent Boston-area doctor, accused in multiple lawsuits of sexually assaulting more than 200 former patients, has been indicted on rape charges by a grand jury.
The Middlesex County District Attorney announced Thursday that Dr. Derek Todd assaulted two women during checkups in December 2022 and June 2023 at Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Todd, a rheumatologist, appeared in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday after turning himself in to police the night before.
NBC Boston reported that the two women underwent either a pelvic exam or Pap smear with a doctor when the alleged assault occurred.
Patients claimed that the tests were beyond “normal.”
One woman endured enough pain to scream at Todd to stop, but the doctor didn't listen and continued the examination.
The newspaper reported that the second patient claimed that she did not give Todd consent to perform the specific examination, but the doctor went ahead despite the refusal.
Todd has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape.
He was held on $10,000 bail.
The judge ordered Todd to surrender his passport, have no contact with his alleged victims, and give up all medical licenses.
The allegations of abuse from Todd date back to 2010 but only came to light in 2023 after Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital received anonymous complaints.
Todd was the former chief of clinical rheumatology at Boston Hospital, but resigned after 14 years in 2023 when two other doctors questioned the appropriateness of pelvic exams for rheumatology patients, the Boston Globe reported.
More than 200 of Todd's former patients accused him of performing unnecessary pelvic floor treatment, breast exams, testicular exams, and rectal exams.
The defendants include more than 200 women and several men, ranging in age from teenagers to 60-year-olds.
Lawyers for 180 former patients say the two rape charges are just the beginning of the doctor's legal battle.
“It is just the beginning of the criminal case against Dr. Todd, but it helps validate the civil claims that Lubin & Meyer are pursuing on behalf of many of his former patients,” said attorney William Thompson. “Fundamentally, it is about a doctor who abuses his position, exploiting patients who have placed their trust in him for his own sexual gratification.
Todd voluntarily ceased his medical practice in Massachusetts in September 2023.
The announcement was made in a letter to the Medical Registration Council.
The class action lawsuit against Todd also lists the hospital as a defendant for allegedly knowing about the abuse and failing to stop it.
Todd is discharged from the hospital in July 2024.
With mail wires
