Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Neurologist faces sex allegations in 3 states
A prominent neurologist, already charged with groping patients at a Philadelphia clinic, is facing a growing number of accusations that he preyed on especially vulnerable pain patients at medical facilities in three states, using his impressive reputation as a healer to trap women in long- term doctor- patient relat ionships marked by abuse.
At least 17 women in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey have stepped forward to accuse Dr. Ricardo Cruciani of sexual misconduct that goes back at least a dozen years, either reporting him to police or retaining an attorney to pursue civil claims, according to an Associated Press review of documents and interviews with the lawyer and three of the accusers.
Women who say they were sexually abused by Cruciani tell the AP they felt they had no alternative but to continue seeing the Ivy League- trained neurologist, who specializes in rare, complicated syndromes that produce debilitating pain. Trapped in bodies that didn’t work, the women said, they viewed Cruciani as their only hope of getting better — and he knew it, taking advantage of their desperation.
Now, as police and prosecutors open a second investigation into Cruciani, some of the accusers and their lawyer want to know how closely the 63- yearold pain doctor was supervised and whether he could have been stopped sooner.
“These hospitals created this perfect storm of opportunity for him to victimize so many patients,” said Hillary Tullin, who saw Cruciani for years and said she was victimized repeatedly. “The system failed.”
A Philadelphia police affidavit said Cruciani, the former chairman of the neurology department at Philadelphia’s Drexel University, assaulted seven patients in 2016. The women, ages 31 to 55, described unwanted touching and kissing. One patient said Cruciani tried to force her to touch his genitals and then masturbated in front of her.
Drexel fired him in March after an internal investigation. Cruciani is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on misdemeanor charges that include indecent assault.
“Given that these are ongoing matters, we cannot comment because it could prejudice the proceedings,” said his lawyer, Linda Dale Hoffa. “We will do our talking in court.”
Cruciani’s legal troubles might just be starting.
A 55- year- old former patient who says Cruciani sexually abused her for years told the AP that police interviewed her in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, where the doctor worked for Capital Health Medical Center from 2014 to 2016. Hopewell police and the Mercer County prosecutor’s office confirmed Cruciani is under investigation there but declined to offer details.
Dennis Dooley, vice president at Capital Health, said Capital received no complaints of sexual misconduct by Cruciani while he worked there.
Patients in excruciating pain often found their way to the neurologist, who boasted an impressive resume: fellow at the National Institutes of Health, doctorate degree in pharmacology, respected academic and researcher published more than 150 times and featured at more than 130 medical conferences.
The pain specialist accepted patients with hardtotreat disorders when other doctors would not. Patients said he continually researched new, innovative treatments and therapies for them.
Tullin, a former network news producer for ABC and CBS, began seeing Cruciani in 2002 at Beth Israel Medical Center inManhattan. For two years, she had suffered chronic pain that made it feel like her body was on fire.
Cruciani diagnosed complex regional pain syndrome, a progressive disorder believed to originate in the nervous system, and came up with a strategy to relieve her symptoms. She saw him regularly for three years without incident.
Then, at an appointment in 2005, the neurologist grabbed her face and jammed his tongue down her throat, said Tullin, who recalled uttering an expletive and fleeing.
She avoided going back for a couple weeks. Eventually, though, she returned, feeling she had no choice because Cruciani was one of the very few doctors who could treat her.
“You have nowhere else to go, and you know that and he knows that,” said Tullin, 45.