The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Thursday that it performed an examination of George Tyndall, the former USC campus gynecologist who was found dead at his home last week while awaiting trial for alleged sexual misconduct with 16 patients.
According to a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s Office, “An examination was performed, and the cause of death has been deferred.” She also added that “no autopsy was done.”
The Medical Examiner’s Office explains that an external exam includes looking for any external signs of trauma. Based on the examination and the circumstances surrounding the death, an autopsy may be required to determine the cause and manner of death.
According to the coroner’s office, “Cases are deferred when the deputy medical examiner is requesting further investigation/studies into the death. Due to the ongoing death investigation, the department cannot disclose what is being conducted, nor a time frame of when the case will be closed.”
Last week, the office stated that it did not plan to perform an autopsy because “there was a history of natural disease that explains Mr. Tyndall’s sudden death with no suspicious circumstances for foul play, suicide, or toxins playing a role in his death.”
The 76-year-old man’s body was subsequently moved to the coroner’s office on Monday.
The decision not to perform a full autopsy has angered attorneys for some of Tyndall’s alleged victims, who feel they are being denied closure regarding his death after also being denied the chance to see him brought to trial.
Tyndall was found dead on October 4 in his Los Angeles condominium by a friend who had been unable to reach him. Tyndall was awaiting trial on sex-related charges involving patients who accused him of inappropriate behavior under the guise of medical exams.
Tyndall and his attorneys have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Tyndall was ordered on August 11 to stand trial on 18 felony counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person — charges that allege the women were “unconscious of the nature of the act” and that it served “no professional purpose.” He also faced nine felony counts of sexual battery by fraud.
The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between 2009 and 2016, while Tyndall was working at USC’s student health center.
Eight charges involving five other women were dismissed earlier because four of them opted not to proceed and one could not be contacted.
Attorney John Manly, who represents a number of alleged Tyndall victims, issued a statement last week criticizing the decision not to perform an autopsy, saying authorities “refused to properly investigate his death” by quickly declaring it “natural causes.”
Manly said, “This refusal to properly investigate Tyndall’s cause of death allows him to get away with his decades of horrific abuse, and leaves hundreds of women without answers.”
One of Tyndall’s attorneys, Leonard Levine, told City News Service that his client “desperately wanted to go to trial, and that’s where the issues of guilt or innocence should be resolved.” Levine stated that Tyndall had planned to testify and “declare his innocence.”
Levine also mentioned that Tyndall’s defense team will seek the dismissal of the case once a copy of his death certificate becomes available.
Tyndall had been scheduled to appear at a hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Friday. The defense had intended to ask the judge to lower Tyndall’s $1.3 million bail to $250,000 and to free him from electronic monitoring, considering the dismissal of the eight charges involving five other women.
In March 2021, attorneys representing hundreds of women who claim they were sexually abused by Tyndall announced an $852 million settlement of lawsuits against USC, describing the resolution as the largest of its type ever against a university.
In January 2020, a federal judge in Los Angeles granted final approval of a $215 million class-action settlement between USC and some of the women who claim they were sexually abused by Tyndall.
The settlement provides all class members — about 17,000 former patients who received women’s health services from Tyndall — compensation of $2,500 and up. Patients who are willing to provide further details about their experience could be eligible for additional compensation up to $250,000.
Some victims’ attorneys have argued that after an internal investigation of complaints against Tyndall in 2016, the university paid Tyndall a substantial financial settlement so he would quietly resign.
USC officials have repeatedly denied allegations of a cover-up relating to Tyndall and have stated that new protocols were implemented at its student health center to ensure any complaints are investigated and resolved by appropriate university officials and authorities. The university also mentioned that it has hired female, board-certified physicians and introduced patient education materials about sensitive examinations.
Following the March 2021 settlement, USC President Carol Folt released a statement expressing regret for the pain experienced by the victims and hoping that the resolution provides some relief to those abused by Tyndall.
According to records from the Medical Board of California, Tyndall surrendered his medical license in September 2019.
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