Becker's Spine Review

74 HEALTHCARE NEWS USC to pay $1.1B settlement over physician sex abuse scandal By Alia Paavola T he University of Southern California in Los Angeles agreed to pay $1.1 billion to hundreds of patients who filed class-action lawsuits accusing a former student health gynecologist of repeated sexual abuse, according to e New York Times. e billion-dollar payout, the combination of three sets of settlements, sets a record for collegiate sex abuse payouts, according to the report. e Los Angeles Superior Court approved the largest settle- ment March 25, requiring USC to pay $852 million to 710 women who filed a class-action suit against the university and George Tyndall, MD. e settlement amount also in- cludes a $215 million settlement reached in 2019. USC said the settlement reached March 25 "marks the end of a painful and ugly chapter in the history of our univer- sity." "I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these val- ued members of the USC community," USC President Carol Folt, PhD, said. "We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall." Dr. Tyndall served as USC's only full-time gynecologist at its student health clinic from 1989 to 2016. Prosecutors say he abused his position of power and trust by subjecting his female patients to both physical and verbal abuse. USC suspended Dr. Tyndall from his role in 2016. In 2017, he was forced out of USC. e university allegedly received reports of sexual harassment by Dr. Tyndall dating to the 1990s but didn't report them to the Medical Board of Cal- ifornia until 2018, when approached by the Los Angeles Times regarding an investigative report about the scandal. In 2018, an investigation was launched into the conduct of Dr. Tyndall and the university's handling of the sexual assault allegations. Following the investigation, Dr. Tyndall was arrested and charged with 29 counts of sexual assault, and in 2020, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Ed- ucation Office for Civil Rights found USC mishandled re- ports of the allegations. Dr. Tyndall, who now faces 35 counts of criminal sexual misconduct, pleaded not guilty to the charges and awaits trial, according to the s. e scandal forced then-USC President C.L. Max Nikias, PhD, to resign in 2018. n Tennessee hospital abruptly closes By Ayla Ellison J ellico (Tenn.) Medical Center closed March 1, days after the city council voted to send a contract termination notice to the hos- pital's operator, Rennova Health, according to TV station WBIR. The hospital, owned by the city, has not admitted a patient since November and often doesn't have enough staff to provide ad- equate patient care, city attorney Elizabeth Burrell told TV sta- tion WATE. She said West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Rennova has breached its contract by not operating Jellico Medical Center as an acute care hospital, according to WBIR. Rennova Health management said the city council's contract termina- tion decision left the company with no option but to close the hospital. "Repercussions of the decision made by the City of Jellico at last week's public board meeting mean it is no longer viable for Ren- nova Health, Inc. to consider the financial support or investment needed for Jellico hospital to continue to operate in any capacity on a daily basis," Rennova said in a statement to WVLT. Rennova CEO Seamus Lagan said the hospital needs significant investments of about $500,000 for upgrades, and the city council is aware of deficiencies at the hospital. n 'It's too much fun not to': Hacker who exposed US hospitals' security cameras on inspiration behind attack By Jackie Drees S wiss authorities on March 12 raided the apartment of a hacker who claimed credit for breaching San Mateo, Ca- lif.-based security camera company Verkada and accessing its live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras from hospitals and other companies, Bloomberg reported. Tillie Kottmann said their apartment in Lucerne, Switzerland, was raided and that police took their electronic devices. The warrant was based on an alleged hack in 2020 and not the breach of Ver- kada, which exposed live video surveillance feeds from hospitals including Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Halifax Health, Texarkana, Texas-based Wadley Regional Medical Center and Tempe (Ariz.) St. Luke's Hospital, according to Bloomberg. Tillie Kottmann told Bloomberg that they hacked Verkada because they were inspired by "lots of curiosity, fighting for freedom of infor- mation and against intellectual property, a huge dose of anti-capital- ism, a hint of anarchism — and it's also just too much fun not to do it." The search of the hacker's apartment was part of a U.S. criminal case against Tillie Kottmann in the Western District of Washing- ton. The hacker has been accused of unauthorized access to pro- tected computers, identity theft and fraud. n

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