The USC gynecologist was repeatedly accused of misconduct allegedly directed at Asian students

A former gynecologist at the University of Southern California repeatedly accused of inappropriate behavior allegedly attacked Chinese international students to his lack of familiarity with American medical practices, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Dr. George Tyndall worked at the USC student health clinic for almost 30 years. Over and over again, students and staff accused him of touching patients inappropriately during exams, making suggestive comments and even photographing the genitals of students. They alleged that Tyndall performed full-body scans when patients lay naked on the examination table, commented on patients' skin and breasts, and sometimes referred to sexual intercourse while their fingers were inside patients.

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Several chaperones who accompanied Tyndall during the examinations indicated that his attitude seemed particularly inappropriate among international students from Asia, some of whom had never had a gynecological examination before.

Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, told HuffPost that Tyndall's alleged behavior is also worrisome because many women, especially low-income young women or women of color, have difficulty finding and receiving attention. Adequate reproductive health.

"Many fight stigma and are afraid to ask for help when it comes to sex and reproductive care," Choimorrow told HuffPost. "For this gynecologist to take advantage of these vulnerable young women is horrible and completely unethical."

Asian women have been stereotyped and objectified for a long time as "exotic" or "submissive geishas". They are constantly dehumanized, Choimorrow explains, and their fetishization contributes to the culture of rape and encourages sexual assault.

"It's a sick idea that this doctor has taken advantage of international Asian students because he thought they were naive and did not know what to expect during these appointments," he said.

The university only suspended Tyndall in 2016, after a nurse presented numerous complaints to the crisis center for school rape, prompting an internal investigation that determined that his behavior could considered sexual harassment.

According to Tyndall, school officials offered him a separation agreement that would allow him to resign, with compensation for dismissal in hand, instead of being fired. Initially he resisted, but finally accepted the agreement for an undisclosed amount, according to the Los Angeles Times.

USC did not alert its students or the university community to Tyndall's behavior and did not file a complaint with the California Medical Board until Tyndall requested reimbursement earlier this year, the Times reported. However, the board renewed its license in January.

Tyndall defended his methods and denied having made certain offensive comments, and told the Times that he intends to continue practicing medicine until he is 80 years old. "When I am on my deathbed," said the 71-year-old woman, she said: "I want to think that there are thousands and thousands of Trojan women out there in whose health I made a difference."

Prior to the Times report, USC President CL Max Nikias published a letter to the university community stating that independent criminal law experts said that Tyndall's conduct "was not a criminal matter" during the 2016 internal investigation. .

USC also blamed the former executive director of the health center, Dr. Lawrence Neinstein (who died in 2016) for the way the school handled the complaints. "Instead of raising these complaints for proper investigation, the former director's notes indicated that in each case he took steps to address Tyndall's behavior independently, even in some cases that discussed complaints with patients, performed reviews of the Tyndall clinical practice and presented external experts to review their clinical practices, "the university said in a press release.

Since then, Chinese officials have learned of the report, expressing concern For the affected international students, the Consulate General of China in Los Angeles issued a statement asking USC to take the appropriate measures.

"We ask the USC authorities to take charge of of the case in a serious way, conduct an immediate investigation and take concrete measures to protect Chinese students and academics in the field pus so they do not suffer damages, "the statement said. "The consulate has always attached great importance to the security and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens abroad, including Chinese students and academics."

On Tuesday, the university established a hotline and a website so that people with additional information can report their concerns. The following night, the school had already received more than 85 complaints.

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