Women recall ‘gross’ doctor interactions
LOS ANGELES: He quipped about the looseness of a woman’s vagina. He remarked on the smoothness of another woman’s skin. He surprised one patient by suddenly removing her tampon and dangling it in front of her.
Former students at the University of Southern California (USC) are coming forward by the dozens, re-examining yearsold interactions with George Tyndall, the longtime gynecologist at the student health centre who is now at the centre of a growing scandal. What they considered inappropriate and humiliating at the time, they are now reporting to a special university hotline as signs of the doctor’s trail of abuse.
The university this week accused Dr Tyndall of behaviour and comments that “were completely unacceptable and a violation of our values”. For years, medical workers had accused the doctor of touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams, as well as making racist and sexual remarks about patients’ bodies.
USC has come under fire for not immediately reporting Dr Tyndall to the state medical board and for not making the allegations about him public until only after the university was approached by The Los Angeles Times. The university’s handling of the case has provoked outrage from students, alumni and even the Chinese government.
Allegations of misconduct dated to the 1990s, but Dr Tyndall continued to see thousands of patients as the centre’s primary gynecologist. He was first suspended in 2016, after a nurse complained about him to the campus rape crisis centre. After a yearlong investigation, university officials forced him out.
But they did not report the accusations to the California Medical Board. When their probe was complete, officials said that the findings were a personnel matter and that there was no legal obligation to notify the state oversight board, which investigates doctors accused of misconduct.
The latest scandal at USC comes less than a year after the university was roiled by reports that the former dean of the medical school spent months partying with prostitutes and using drugs on campus. Before his resignation, he had been celebrated as a prolific fundraiser
and accomplished physician. The man chosen to replace him was forced to step down after reports surfaced that he had settled a sexual harassment case with one of his former researchers.
USC officials said they had received more than 100 complaints about Dr Tyndall, either through a hotline or a website the university set up to receive complaints.
One woman cried as she recalled phoning the hotline and recounting an appointment she had with Dr Tyndall before graduating from USC in 2007. During a pelvic exam, she said, he inserted several fingers inside her and told her “you know what they say about tall women, right?” which the woman, who is more than 6 feet tall, took to mean she had a large vaginal opening. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she did not report his comments at the time.
“It was just the grossest thing, but what are you supposed to do?” she said. “Are you supposed to punch this person?”