USA: Columbia to pay $750m to hundreds of victims of gynaecologist

An ex-doctor is now costing Columbia University over $1 billion after a new sex abuse settlement with nearly 600 victims in a deal approved in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday.

Columbia University agreed to the record-breaking $750 million settlement with 576 victims of disgraced gynaecologist and convicted sex criminal Robert Hadden — with a per-case average of $1.3 million, the attorney for the victims announced. 

"This settlement is not about money — it's about accountability," said victim Laurie Maldonando.

"Columbia University enabled sadistic abuse," said Maldonando, who was a patient of Hadden’s for nearly a decade, "and now, they’ve been forced to face the truth."

In 2023, Hadden was sentenced to 20 years in prison for preying on — and sexually abusing — hundreds of vulnerable patients during his years as a gynaecologist at prestigious Big Apple hospitals, including ones associated with Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian.

"For far too long, Columbia and New York-Presbyterian have prioritized protecting their reputations over protecting their patients," said attorney Anthony T. DiPietro, who has battled with Columbia in court on behalf of hundreds of Hadden victims since 2012. 

DiPietro said he discovered a "smoking gun" that year — a letter penned by the then-head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia in 1995, apologizing for "Hadden’s assault" and undercutting the institution’s claims they were unaware — by digging around the Utah basement of a client.

The attorney had already secured $277 million in previous settlements against Columbia for Hadden victims, bringing the hospitals' total payouts to just over $1 billion with Monday’s agreement.

"We deeply regret the pain that his patients suffered, and this settlement is another step forward in our ongoing work and commitment to repair harm and support survivors," said a spokesperson for the university, who "commended" the survivors for their "bravery." 

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Source: Fox News, 6 May 2025