Another lawsuit has been filed by 107 women against former OB-GYN Barry Brock, MD, alleging sexual abuses and medical misconduct, the Los Angeles Times reported Jan. 2.
Here are six things to know:
1. Dr. Brock, 74, has been an attending physician at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since early 1980. He left the physician network in 2018 but retained hospital privileges while working at two private practices.
2. The first lawsuit was filed in October by 35 women who alleged that Dr. Brock made lewd and unsettling comments to patients, groped their breasts and genitals during medically unnecessary exams, engaged in "female genital mutilation" by giving women unneeded sutures, and denied cesarean sections to patients who needed them.
3. On Dec. 27, a second lawsuit was filed by 107 more women who brought similar allegations and added new ones including using examination instruments in inappropriate and violating ways and conducting vaginal exams without wearing gloves.
"I know that I never touched or examined a patient in any way for anything but medical reasons," Dr. Brock told the Los Angeles Times in October. "I know that my comments have never been sexually suggestive or sexual harassment, and that any such allegations have taken a comment completely out of context and distorted it. Any claim that I performed a medical examination or procedure for anything but a medical purpose or conducted it in a way for my own personal gratification, to discourage C-sections, or to sexually harass a patient is an outrageously false claim."
4. The lawsuits also accuse Cedars-Sinai of knowing about Dr. Brock's behavior and not acting on it. Cedars-Sinai "received numerous complaints regarding [his] sexually exploitative and abusive behavior, dating back several decades," the lawsuit said. But "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 two practices where Dr. Brock worked since 2018, Rodeo Drive Women's Health Center and Beverly Hills OB-GYN, have also been named defendants in the lawsuit.
5. In July, Cedars-Sinai suspended Dr. Brock's hospital privileges after receiving complaints from former patients. In August, Dr. Brock announced his retirement by the end of the month due to the "uncertainty of how long this process will take." His privileges were terminated by the hospital in September.
"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," a hospital spokesperson told Becker's. "Dr. Brock no longer has privileges to practice medicine at Cedars-Sinai, and we have reported this matter to the California Medical Board. We recognize the legal process must now take its course, and we remain committed to Cedars-Sinai's sacred healing mission and serving our community."
6. The Medical Board of California has accused Dr. Brock of committing "repeated negligent acts" by failing to give a patient enough pain medication while treating her for a miscarriage and failing to properly clear material from her uterus, among other allegations.