The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Thursday that it performed an examination of George Tyndall, the former USC campus gynecologist who was found dead at his home last week while waiting for trial for alleged sexual misconduct with 16 patients.
“An examination was performed, and the cause of death has been deferred,” said a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s Office to City News Service. She also mentioned that no autopsy was done.
Last week, the office stated that it did not plan to conduct an autopsy due to a history of natural disease that explains Tyndall’s sudden death, with no suspicions of foul play, suicide, or toxins playing a role. However, they mentioned that an investigator’s report would be released once completed.
This decision not to perform a full autopsy has angered attorneys representing some of Tyndall’s alleged victims. They feel denied closure regarding his death, as they were already denied the chance to see him brought to trial.
The specific nature of the “examination” performed by the Medical Examiner’s Office remains unclear. However, a deferred decision on the cause of death usually indicates that investigators are waiting for further test results, such as toxicology tests.
Tyndall, who was 76 years old, was discovered dead on October 4th in his Los Angeles condominium by a friend who had been unable to reach him. He was waiting for trial on sex-related charges, accused of inappropriate behavior during medical exams by his patients.
Tyndall and his attorneys have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
On August 11th, Tyndall was ordered to stand trial on 18 felony counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and nine felony counts of sexual battery by fraud. The charges state that the women were unaware of the nature of the act and that it served no professional purpose. The alleged crimes took place between 2009 and 2016.
The victims had gone to USC’s student health center for annual examinations or other treatments while Tyndall was employed there. Charges involving five other women were dismissed earlier due to four of them choosing not to proceed and one being unreachable.
Attorney John Manly, who represents several alleged Tyndall victims, criticized the decision not to perform an autopsy. He believes that authorities “refused to properly investigate his death” by quickly declaring it as “natural causes.”
“This refusal to properly investigate Tyndall’s cause of death allows him to escape accountability for his decades of horrific abuse, leaving hundreds of women without answers,” stated Manly.
Tyndall’s attorney, Leonard Levine, told City News Service that his client desperately wanted to go to trial, where issues of guilt or innocence could be resolved. Levine added that Tyndall had planned to testify and declare his innocence.
According to Levine, Tyndall’s defense team will request the dismissal of the case once a copy of his death certificate becomes available.
Tyndall was scheduled to appear in court downtown Los Angeles on October 13th. The defense intended to ask the judge to lower Tyndall’s bail from $1.3 million to $250,000 and release him from electronic monitoring, considering the dismissal of the charges involving five other women.
In March 2021, attorneys representing hundreds of women who claimed to be sexually abused by Tyndall announced a $852 million settlement of lawsuits against USC, describing it as the largest resolution of its kind against a university.
In January 2020, a federal judge in Los Angeles approved a final $215 million class-action settlement between USC and some of the women who claimed they were sexually abused by Tyndall.
The settlement provides compensation of $2,500 and up for all class members, which includes approximately 17,000 former patients who received women’s health services from Tyndall. Patients willing to provide more details about their experience might be eligible for additional compensation up to $250,000.
Attorneys for some victims have argued that the university paid Tyndall a substantial financial settlement following an internal investigation of complaints against him in 2016, so he would quietly resign.
USC officials have repeatedly denied allegations of a cover-up regarding Tyndall. They claim that new protocols were implemented at the student health center to ensure thorough investigation and resolution of any complaints by appropriate university officials and authorities. The university also stated that female, board-certified physicians were hired, and patient education materials about sensitive examinations were introduced.
Following the settlement in March 2021, USC President Carol Folt released a statement expressing apologies for the pain experienced by the victims. She praised the courage of those who came forward and hoped that the resolution would offer some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall.
According to records from the Medical Board of California, Tyndall surrendered his medical license in September 2019.
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