Chaperones, Trust, and the Cost of Silence

The Safety Ledger - The $750 million Hadden settlement shows what can happen when institutions ignore a basic safeguard—never let a patient be examined alone.

Hospitals train for emergencies, but the worst harm can occur in the most ordinary setting: a patient in an exam room with a trusted doctor. The recent $750 million settlement involving New York Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian—the largest to date in the Robert Hadden case—should make every institution stop and ask what went wrong. More than 800 women …