Dr. George Tyndall, the University of South California campus gynecologist, has been accused of sexually abusing hundreds and potentially thousands of students.
This week, Tyndall was sued 51 additional students who claim that he sexually abused them during visits to his office, bringing the total to 225 women. The new accusers, all former USC students, live all around the world. The dates of their incidents with Tyndall range from the 1980s to as recent as 2016.
One former student explained in a column for the Los Angeles Times how Tyndall had behaved inappropriately with her during a routine visit.
The first thing I remember about the exam is that prior to inserting the speculum, he placed his fingers in my vagina and did something that caused a distinct pain. “Ow!” I said. There seemed to be surprise in his voice as he asked, “Did that hurt?” I replied that it had. He repeated the motion and asked again, “This hurts?” Again I replied that it did.
Then he said, “I thought you said you weren’t a virgin.” I replied that I was not. “Well,” he told me, “your hymen is still intact.”
The student, now an experienced women’s health nurse practitioner, knows that Tyndall had gone too far. She isn’t the only student speaking out. Hundreds of female USC students are claiming that Tyndall touched them inappropriately.
The worst part? Many at USC claim that Tyndall’s abuse could have been prevented if university officials had intervened after initial complaints. “This could’ve been prevented if anyone at USC had stepped up sooner,” he said. “We have a client who is still a student at USC … and she wasn’t even born yet when [another client] Dr. Dana Loewy was being abused by Tyndall.”
Tyndall is another in a line of figures at high-ranking universities that has been accused of massive sex crimes. Former Michigan State Dr. Larry Nassar was the center of a national media firestorm earlier this year after it was revealed that he used his authority to sexually abuse hundreds of female gymnasts, many of which were underage.