Survivors blast Columbia University report on ex-gynecologist convicted of sexual abuse

Sexual assault survivors are blasting a report released by Columbia University on Tuesday regarding decades of abuse by Robert Hadden, a former gynecologist within the university's system.

In 2023, after survivors of Hadden's abuse called for greater accountability, a settlement fund was established and an investigation was launched.

Now, those survivors want to know why it took Columbia so long to take action and say the report leaves many questions unanswered.

Survivors' demands

At a press conference Friday, survivors described the report as nothing more than damage control, calling it "limited."

"This report, this piece of s***, and the university's other promises only came when the campus community and survivors' voices grew louder," survivor Marissa Hoechstetter said.

Results from an external investigation commissioned by two of Hadden's former employers, Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, found what it called three factors that allowed the abuse to continue:

• "Weaknesses in chaperone staffing, training, policies, and enforcement,"
• "A variety of obstacles to patient-and even staff-reporting of physician misconduct at both institutions,"
• And "the institutions failed to respond effectively to the reports of misconduct that they did receive."

"What survivors have been asking for years is not just how the abuse happened, but who in leadership coordinated the well-documented cover-up after Dr. Hadden was finally exposed," survivor Evelyn Yang said.

Last week, the New York attorney general said her office was "conducting a thorough investigation into the institutional response to Robert Hadden's misconduct."

In addition to that, survivors have a list of demands.

"A full reckoning and public statement of apology and atonement from administrators named in the report who had information and could've moved to protect patients, but did not," Hoechstetter said.

They also want the full firing of two executives who stepped down after the report's release.

"We will still stand here, and we're not going anywhere," one survivor said.

"We are not done," another survivor said.

Columbia referred us back to a message sent to the community Tuesday that reads in part, "While we cannot undo the harm of the past, we are firmly committed to ensuring that nothing like this can happen again."  

Hadden's abuse

In 2023, Hadden was sentenced to 20 years in prison on federal charges he sexually abused patients during what were supposed to be exams. During sentencing, the judge noted Hadden's history of abuse likely dated back to the 1980s.

Before his federal conviction, Hadden took a plea deal in state court in 2016 and lost his medical license.

He left Columbia in 2012.