- Darius Paduch, a former urologist, is accused in a new lawsuit of sexually assaulting men and boys.
- Anthony T. DiPietro, the prosecuting attorney, called Paduch a "serious sexual predator."
This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.
In a new lawsuit filed in New York, Darius Paduch, a former urologist, is accused of molesting minors and men alike by performing unnecessary examinations and touching their genitals under the guise of medical necessity over a period of years — and his employers are accused of being well aware of his actions.
The lawsuit, filed September 26 in the New York Supreme Court, comes after Paduch's April indictment by a federal grand jury.
This new filing has 58 plaintiffs, but the prosecuting attorney, Anthony T. DiPietro, told Insider there were already more who had come forward to share the experiences they had with Paduch.
Along with Paduch, multiple medical centers are listed as defendants in the suit, including NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
In Paduch's career, he moved to several different medical centers in the area. From the early 2000s, he worked at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical Center. He later moved to Northwell Health in 2019, the suit says.
The suit alleges that during his career, Paduch engaged in multiple abusive and grooming behaviors, including asking patients about their pornography and masturbatory habits, giving genitalia exams without gloves, instructing patients to masturbate in front of him and masturbating patients himself, and fondling and groping patients.
The suit also alleges Paduch performed unnecessary surgeries that supposedly addressed erectile dysfunction.
Additionally, the suit says multiple complaints were made verbally and formally to Paduch's superiors at his places of work, which were either ignored or covered up. Paduch was "asked to leave" his first workplace, but his patients were not told that he was leaving the practice after multiple sexual-abuse complaints were made, the suit says.
DiPietro, who works mainly in patient-safety and medical-malpractice cases, described Paduch as a "serial sexual predator" who abused boys and men at multiple medical practices.
He also connected the case to the case against Robert Hadden, a former gynecologist who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after sexually abusing dozens of patients. Hadden was also connected to Columbia University medical centers, DiPietro said, and committed similar acts of fraud, exploitation, and grooming against girls and women.
DiPietro said he would continue to file cases as more people came forward.
Many of his clients want policy changes at the various hospitals involved to protect current and future patients from harm, DiPietro said.
"If it weren't for our clients coming forward and holding them accountable, these predators would still be there doing it to people," DiPietro said. "If there's any credit that is due in these cases it's to every single one of our clients who's been willing to step up and help get this done."
A spokesperson for Weill Cornell Medicine called the behavior described in the lawsuits "extremely disturbing."
"No patient who entrusts us with their care should ever experience such appalling behavior," the spokesperson said. "We continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and are committed to maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards."
The Long Island Jewish Medical Center — part of the larger Northwell Health network — also said it would continue to take allegations against its former employee Paduch seriously and cooperate with authorities conducting investigations.
Paduch and the medical centers associated with Columbia University did not respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.
To submit a news tip, contact this reporter at scahill@insider.com.