Rory McCarthy says her life changed forever when a prominent Boston doctor sexually abused her during a medical exam.
“I am a survivor of sexual violence within the Massachusetts medical system. This experience has completely derailed my life and my identity,” McCarthy testified at a State House briefing on April 9.
McCarthy, 31, is one of more than 200 people who say Brigham and Women’s Dr. Derrick Todd sexually abused them. Todd has been arrested and charged with rape. There is also a civil case against him.
Rory suffers from multiple rare autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
“When I met my abuser, I was desperate for help and to feel better,” she said. “I wanted to live a normal and pain-free life, or at least a life in which my crippling flares were not happening every other week.”
McCarthy told the Current that she was groomed by Todd.
“Predatory medical professionals lure patients in under the belief that they will listen to the patient, provide real help and actually take the time to reach a diagnosis,” she said. “That is why I did not think twice when I was asked to come in early in the morning, when no one was around, so I could be given the time that I deserved to get to the bottom of my health issues that were ruining my life.”
McCarthy continued, “It was during this moment that I gained the unwanted life partner of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) because of the trauma I endured. That moment placed me in one of the darkest times of my life. I isolated myself, had night terrors, bit through my night guards, and my health got worse. It is still a problem today.”
McCarthy shared her story with state Rep. Jenny Armini of Marblehead at one of Armini’s office hours last year.
“She brought her mother, and they asked for a private room,” Armini remembered. “She told me her story. I was stunned, and as a mom I was heartbroken.
Armini and Sen. Brendan Crighton, who also represents Marblehead, drafted two bills to help protect patients.
The first would require that patients be asked if they’d like a chaperone during sensitive medical exams. It “will close the loophole that abusers like Dr. Todd took advantage of by scheduling patients early in the morning or late at night, when no one was there to be a chaperone and advocate for the patient, or respond to a patient calling for help.”
A second bill would eliminate the state’s charitable immunity cap for cases involving sexual abuse. Currently, there is a $20,000 cap for civil cases involving nonprofits, including some hospitals.
That amount is nowhere near enough to support abuse survivors as they navigate trauma and expensive therapy, McCarthy said.
Armini and Crighton sponsored the legislation in the House and Senate, and both bills are being debated now in committees. They’re both proud of McCarthy for coming forward to help others.
“She has been doing this amazing advocacy,” Armini said. “That is the best way to move something like this forward, but it takes a lot of courage.”
