Weill Cornell Medicine agreed to pay more than $1 billion in civil settlements after former urologist Darius Paduch was convicted of sexual abuse.
It was revealed how much the hospital was paying in an official admission that the group was aware of Paduch’s troubling behavior for several years, according to Newsday. Despite the hospital group’s knowledge of Paduch’s crimes, they continued to allow him to treat young men and boys suffering from infertility and sexual dysfunction.
Weill Cornell officials have not yet publicly explained how the medical group plans to pay for the settlements.
The agreement stated that Cornell “acknowledges that the policies and programs that WCM had in place at the time of Paduch’s offenses to detect, prevent, and respond to sexual abuse of patients were not adequate and failed to detect and sufficiently respond to Paduch’s conduct.”
In addition to the $1 billion for the civil settlements, the medical group explained their plan to set aside $30 million in order to establish the WCM Institute for Safe Patient Care and Patient Empowerment so that they can improve collaboration between hospitals, patient advocates, law enforcement and regulators.
The hospital group agreed to the settlement after prosecutors argued that Paduch, 59, abused more than 50 patients while working at Weill Cornell beginning in 2009.
Paduch, who previously had Jeffrey Epstein as a patient, had a history of issues within the hospital group before he was arrested in April 2023. An internal review in 2006 referred to Paduch as a “volatile” doctor who “makes a poor work environment.” The problems continued when staffers reported that he used inappropriate sexual language and behavior between 2012 to 2014, according to the settlement.
Meanwhile, another doctor told the head of the hospital’s urology department that a patient accused Paduch of sexually manipulating them under the guise of treatment in 2015. However, prosecutors said that the administrator did not do anything regarding the allegations.
Another patient complained to the New York State Board of Professional Medical Conduct that he was sexually molested in 2018. Prosecutors said that the hospital’s administrators responded by assigning inexperienced staffers to investigate the claims and they didn’t mention previous complaints.
Weill Cornell’s head of urology eventually denied Paduch’s renewal to the faculty in 2019 after an internal investigation revealed he waived $50,000 in medical bills of one patient who accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior.
Paduch later started working at Northwell, and prosecutors argued that the Weill Cornell administrators did not disclose any of the allegations made against him.
Following years of allegations, Paduch was convicted in 2024 on six counts of sexual abuse of patients. He was then sentenced to life in prison.
Approximately 800 lawsuits have been filed against Weill Cornell and Northwell for Paduch’s behavior, with patients accusing him of assault and battery, negligence and intentional infliction of severe emotional distress.
“Our clients have said all along that Weill Cornell administrators knew about Darius Paduch’s crimes — instead of protecting patients, they protected Paduch,” attorney Anthony DiPietro said while announcing the settlement, per the outlet. “Today’s announcement sends a clear message to medical institutions across the country that they will be held accountable for criminal cover-ups.”
As part of the settlement, Weill Cornell also agreed to set up a panel to continuously monitor sexual misconduct and risks, while they must also conduct periodic reviews until 2031.
“This resolution is a significant step forward for us in addressing our former faculty member’s misconduct,” hospital spokeswoman Sarah Smith said, per the outlet. “Today, Weill Cornell Medicine is a safer organization. Under new executive leadership, we have enacted significant reforms in patient safety and reporting protocols to ensure we provide the very best care to all those who place their trust in us.”
Meanwhile, Northwell spokeswoman Barbara Osborn said that “protecting the patients who place their trust in us remains our highest priority, and we fully supported [the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office] in its criminal investigation of Dr. Darius Paduch’s reprehensible conduct.”
