“[Dr. Barry] Brock has been allowed to continue injuring, exploiting, and abusing patients under the guise of medical care at Cedars-Sinai from 1979 through August of 2024,” the lawsuit claims.
Dozens of women have filed a lawsuit against a California physician accused of sexually abusing patients at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
According to The Los Angeles Times, more than 160 women in total are pursuing claims against obstetrician-gynecologist Barry J. Brock, who is accused of engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior and recommending medical unnecessary forms of treatment.
Dr. Brock, 74, has since denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The Times notes that Brock is a “longtime OB-GYN” who was a member of the Cedars-Sinai network until 2018, though he retained clinical privileges there through at least mid-2024.
During that time, Cedars-Sinai allegedly “received numerous complaints regarding [Brock’s] sexually exploitative and abusive behavior, dating back several decades.”
“Brock has been allowed to continue injuring, exploiting, and abusing patients under the guise of medical care at Cedars-Sinai from 1979 through August of 2024,” the complaint claims.
One woman, who claims to have visited Brock’s office in 2015, says that she asked Brock why he wasn’t wearing gloves before conducting a gynecological examination.
“Your ‘down there’ is much dirtier than my hands,” Brock said.
Another patient claims to have told Brock that she was a lesbian, to which he remarked, “Well, I can change that.”
Brock also purportedly viewed a patient’s modeling pictures on his exam room computer during her visit. When she noticed and asked Brock why he had her photographs on the screen, he said, “I was looking at your modeling pictures, and take a look at this one. You can see your [vulva] right through the outfit.”
Cedars-Sinai medical staff were allegedly dismissive of complaints against and about Brock. One woman, who was Brock’s patient between 2002 and 2012, said that she would sometimes “express to the nurses or other doctors that his behavior was rough and rude.”
“She would be told, ‘That’s just how he is’ and ‘Don’t put much on it,’” the lawsuit alleges.
In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for Cedars-Sinai told The Los Angeles Times that “the type of behavior alleged about Dr. Barry Brock is counter to Cedars-Sinai’s core values and the trust we strive to earn every day with our patients.”
“Dr. Brock no longer has privileges to practice medicine at Cedars-Sinai, and we have reported this matter to the California Medical Board,” the spokesperson said.
However, attorneys for the women now claim that Cedars-Sinai’s approach to the allegations has been less-than-honest.
Brock, they say, “has only recently ‘retired’ so that Cedars-Sinai can continue trying to conceal from plaintiffs, and the public at large, that Brock is a known serial predator, who has sexually exploited and abused hundreds, if not thousands, of unsuspecting female patients.”
Sources
107 additional women file sexual misconduct lawsuit against former Cedars-Sinai OB/GYN
107 more women accuse former Cedars-Sinai physician of sexual misconduct
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