Columbia University Irving Medical Center and its affiliated hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian, will pay $165 million to 147 patients of a former gynecologist who was accused of sexual abuse of misconduct. Robert Hadden was convicted in 2016 after pleading guilty in New York state court to a criminal sex act in the third degree, a felony, and forcible touching. According to court documents, he “sexually abused dozens of female patients, including multiple minors, under the guise of conducting purported gynecological and obstetric examinations.” He is now awaiting trial in federal court on more criminal charges, including bringing women across state lines “for the purpose of sexual abuse from 1993 to 2012,” the university said in a press release on Friday. Over the years, his former patients, including Evelyn Yang, wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and former Broadway dancer Laurie Kanyok, have come forward and shared their stories. Yang said Hadden assaulted her in 2012 while she was seven months pregnant.
