Medical Sexual Abuse in NYC: Suing Doctors, Hospitals, and Medical Institutions Under the VGMPL

Medical sexual abuse — defined as sexual contact by a healthcare provider that is not medically necessary, is performed without informed consent, or is performed under the pretext of a legitimate medical procedure — is one of the deepest betrayals of trust a person can experience. Medical sexual abuse survivors often struggle to identify what happened as abuse, conditioned by deference to medical authority and the intimate nature of clinical examinations.

High-profile cases — from Columbia University’s Dr. Robert Hadden to USA Gymnastics’ Larry Nassar — have brought national attention to the scale of medical sexual abuse and the institutional failures that enable it. In New York City, the VGMVPL’s new Section 10-1104.1 provision provides a direct path to civil accountability for survivors abused by medical providers before January 9, 2022.

What Constitutes Medical Sexual Abuse?

Medical sexual abuse can take many forms, including:

• Unnecessary genital or breast examinations
• Sexual contact framed as part of a “treatment” or “procedure”
• Photographing a patient’s body without consent
• Abuse of anesthesia — committing sexual acts on a sedated patient

Courts have consistently held that sexual contact by a healthcare provider without genuine clinical justification and genuine informed consent constitutes an act of violence motivated by the victim’s gender — satisfying the VGMVPL’s definitional requirements.

Institutional Liability: When Hospitals and Medical Practices Enable Abuse

Individual providers who commit sexual abuse rarely do so without some form of institutional failure enabling them. Common patterns include:

• Prior complaints ignored: Patients reported the provider’s conduct to hospital administration, and the institution took no action or actively suppressed the complaint
• Inadequate chaperone policies: The hospital failed to require or enforce the presence of chaperones during sensitive examinations
• Pattern of reassignment: Rather than terminating an abusive provider, the institution transferred them to a different department or facility — allowing the abuse to continue
• Credentialing failures: The institution failed to conduct an adequate review of a provider’s history before granting clinical privileges
• Active concealment: Hospital administrators, legal departments, or risk management teams took steps to silence survivors, destroy records, or prevent public disclosure

Notable NYC Medical Abuse Cases and What They Teach Us

The cases of Dr. Robert Hadden at Columbia University Medical Center and other New York-based providers who abused patients over decades share a common thread: institutions that received complaints, conducted internal investigations, and chose institutional reputation over patient safety. These cases demonstrate that individual provider liability is only part of the story. The institution that protected the provider for years may ultimately bear greater legal and financial responsibility than the individual abuser.

Medical Records and Evidence in Healthcare Sexual Abuse Cases

A critical early task in any medical sexual abuse case is the preservation and review of medical records. These records can reveal:

• The frequency of examinations that were clinically unnecessary
• Complaints documented by nursing staff or other providers
• The absence of standard chaperone documentation
• Patterns across multiple patients treated by the same provider

Attorneys handling medical abuse cases issue preservation letters immediately to prevent record destruction, and work with medical experts who can evaluate whether documented procedures were clinically justified.

The Intersection of Medical Malpractice and VGMVPL Claims

Medical sexual abuse cases may involve both medical malpractice claims and VGMVPL civil claims. While malpractice claims address the provider’s deviation from the standard of care, VGMVPL claims address the violent, criminal nature of the conduct itself. These claims can be brought together, and they seek different types of damages — malpractice covers treatment costs and economic harm, while the VGMVPL claim reaches the full scope of pain, suffering and severe emotional trauma inflicted by the abuse.

If you were sexually abused by a doctor, nurse practitioner, or other healthcare provider in New York City before January 9, 2022 — or if a hospital or medical institution failed to protect you from a known abuser — you may have a civil claim under the GMVA. The window closes July 29, 2027. Your consultation is free and confidential.  Schedule a consultation with The Law Firm of Andrew M. Stengel, P.C. by emailing info@stengellaw.com or by using our scheduler at https://calendly.com/stengellaw.