By Maya Kaufman

Good morning and welcome to the Weekly New York Health Care newsletter, where we keep you posted on what's coming up this week in health care news, and offer a look back at the important news from last week.

In recent years, several New York City hospitals have come under scrutiny for their handling of patients’ complaints of sexual abuse by their doctors.

That has only intensified since the state’s Adult Survivors Act became law last year, creating a one-year look-back period for New Yorkers who experienced sexual offenses as adults to sue the perpetrators, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

Now, 45 ex-patients of Dr. Darius Paduch, a former urologist at New York-Presbyterian’s Weill Cornell Medical Center and Northwell Health, are extending their quest for justice to the state.

In a letter to Health Commissioner James McDonald, which was exclusively obtained by POLITICO, the patients called for the Department of Health to investigate the two hospitals' response to internal complaints about Paduch and require them to notify all Paduch’s former patients of his arrest on sex abuse charges.

The patients allege that both hospitals received multiple complaints about Paduch between 2011 and 2021 but failed to properly investigate the claims and allowed him to continue practicing medicine for years.

Paduch was arrested in April and has pleaded not guilty; representatives for both hospitals have said they are cooperating with the authorities.

"We are writing to express our deep concern and frustration regarding the egregious misconduct of both institutions that allowed the abuse to continue unchecked for years, and are calling for action to ensure such reprehensible behavior does not occur again and to ensure current and former patients are protected," the patients wrote.

"We believe that an inquiry is vital to uncover the systemic issues that may have contributed to the prolonged abuse suffered by Dr. Paduch’s patients, to hold those responsible accountable, and to prevent such horrific abuses from happening in the future," they added.

The group also wants the state to require hospitals that are notified of sexual abuse complaints against a doctor to immediately put that provider on leave, pending an investigation into the allegations, and develop new patient protections for urological and gynecological examinations.

Mallory Allen, partner at Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala and the attorney for 100 of Paduch’s former patients, said the patients hope a thorough investigation into the hospitals that employed him will “prevent future patients from having to endure the reprehensible behavior that they were subjected to.”

“This is an incredibly important call to action: without a thorough investigation of the systemic causes behind this egregious misconduct, former, current, and future patients cannot be properly protected,” Allen said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for adult survivors of sexual misconduct who want to take their cases to court.

They have exactly one more month to file suit in New York over claims that would otherwise be barred by statutes of limitations.

IN OTHER NEWS:

— Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital has unveiled a state-of-the-art ambulance dedicated solely to babies, children and adolescents and staffed with a specialized team of critical-care paramedics.

”We understand that children have unique medical needs, and this addition ensures that our young patients receive the specialized care and attention they need,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

ON THE AGENDA:

— Thursday at 3 p.m. NYC Health + Hospitals’ Board of Directors hosts its monthly public meeting.

GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at [email protected].

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— State Assemblymember Amy Paulin has introduced legislation that would bar state university health care facilities from suing patients for medical debt.

While it would apply to only a handful of hospitals across New York, the impact could be significant: Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse sues more patients for medical debt than any other hospital in the state, according to a 2022 analysis by the Community Service Society of New York. In 2021, the hospital sued more than 1,500 patients.

“Medical debt is not something patients choose like a car or apartment and needs to be treated differently,” Paulin said in an emailed statement. “Together New York State-operated hospitals sue their patients at a disproportionately higher rate than non-public NY hospitals. At the same time they receive a disproportionate share of public funding. Moreover, suing patients is expensive for all parties and does little to ameliorate a hospital’s bottom line.”

— Three new public-hospital units for New Yorkers in custody who have serious health conditions are years behind schedule and will have fewer beds than originally planned, city officials acknowledged during a City Council oversight hearing last week.

The city’s latest plan calls for 363 beds across NYC Health + Hospitals’ Bellevue, Woodhull and North Central Bronx hospitals. The first unit, at Bellevue, is not expected to open until at least the end of 2024 — a two-year delay.

The new units, a project unveiled by former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, are a key component of the initiative to close the jails on Rikers Island. They are intended to serve people who have medical conditions that don’t warrant inpatient admission but would benefit from close, regular access to a hospital’s specialty and subspecialty care while they are incarcerated.

NOW WE KNOW — A flesh-eating tropical parasite largely seen in travelers now appears to be spreading in the U.S.

TODAY’S TIP — Add grip-strengthening exercises to your workout routine.

STUDY THIS — American adults who live alone may have a higher risk of dying from cancer, according to new research in the journal Cancer.

— Forthcoming state bill would require more oversight for maternity ward closures, the Albany Times Union reports.

— “The next hot obesity drug won’t be approved for years. Online sellers hawk it anyway,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

— Via STAT: Dobbs decision leaving broad imprint on reproductive medicine.

— AI chatbots are perpetuating racist, debunked medical ideas, The Associated Press reports.

— RSV shots hit supply shortages, Chelsea Cirruzzo reports.

— Biden asks Congress for $1.2 billion to stop fentanyl at the border, Carmen Paun reports.

— Via Katherine Ellen Foley: Experts fear FDA push to get neurological drugs to market faster shortchanges patients.

MISSED A ROUNDUP? Get caught up on the New York Health Care Newsletter.

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