Jury deliberations begin in $930 million lawsuit against hospital

RICHMOND, Va. — The jury is deliberating in the civil lawsuit against Cumberland Hospital and its former medical director.

Forty-six former patients are suing the New Kent facility and Dr. Daniel Davidow for $930 million. Each plaintiff is seeking $20 million plus damages.

Former patients from that first trial claim that Dr. Davidow touched them inappropriately during femoral pulse exams.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Kevin Biniazan, presented final arguments in rebuttal. He said: “It takes a village to abuse a child. Cumberland was that village.

He asked jurors to consider what message a favorable verdict would send to his clients. A message he said, we hear you, we believe in your future, you can trust this world, you can trust this system again.

Biniazan also began his arguments on Thursday. He reminded jurors that in a civil case, allegations do not need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, it is enough to have a preponderance of evidence.

He then reviewed several complaints filed against Dr. Davidow dating back to 2010 and listed other accusers. Biniazan said: “One casualty is a problem, two is a trend, three is pervasive and four is a pandemic. »

Biniazan pointed out that Dr. Davidow never documented the need to check the femoral pulse in his notes. He alleged it was a pretext to assault young women.

Biniazan pointed out to the jury that after he finished questioning Davidow, he asked Biniazan, “What about the questions about how many vaginas I touched?” Biniazan told jurors that Davidow couldn’t help himself, just like he couldn’t help himself with former patients.

Biniazan said what bothers him after working on this case for years is this idea that “it’s just a touch.” With a single touch, he took everything away. It changed the trajectory of these girls’ lives. Cumberland diverted these girls into a swamp.

Biniazan asked jurors to punish their conduct and the way they treated them and to send the girls the message that they are worth more than what they ask for. He asked the jurors to do the right thing.

In closing, Dr. Davidow’s attorney, Bob Donnelly, said these patients were dealing with other issues they had before their admission to Cumberland and needed a doctor like Davidow.

He said it was in Dr. Davidow’s DNA to treat patients like the plaintiffs and that the physical exams Davidow performed, including checking the femoral pulse, were for legitimate medical reasons and that he did not It was not sexual abuse even if it was disturbing for some.

He said: “You are using innuendo to turn this into sexual abuse. »

Donnelly told jurors he asked Davidow if he was getting complaints and then why he didn’t stop to check the femoral pulse. Donnelly said Davidow had taken as many as 4,000 exams during his career and the vast majority had no complaints.

Donnelly said he didn’t know why the plaintiffs latched on to Davidow using adjectives like “attractive” to describe patients in his medical notes. Donnelly said it was “cynicism and innuendo” and did not make him a predator. He said not to take the bait and look at the evidence. He said, “The mind goes where the hand has not gone.” »

Donnelly analyzed the plaintiffs’ testimonies and challenged their credibility in relation to Dr. Davidow’s medical notes.

Donnelly told jurors that Davidow did not mistreat the patients in any way and asked them to check “no” on their verdict forms.

Cumberland’s attorney, Joe Farchione, began by telling the jury that it was a dual-diagnosis hospital inspected annually by the state and private insurers. He said they were monitoring what they were doing and found no citations.

He said the per diem was not fraud and that Dr. Davidow was billed separately.

He disputed testimony that a chaperone would stare at a wall rather than watch Dr. Davidow while he performed an examination. He asked the jury if that made sense.

Farchione challenged some of the plaintiffs’ accusers by showing other parts of reports related to the alleged incidents and accused the other side of not showing the whole story. He looked through the files of seven former patients.

Farchione read an accuser’s medical file and spoke about the former patient’s medical instability and her mother’s appreciation for what Davidow was doing for her daughter.

Farchione said being uncomfortable does not equate to sexual abuse without more.

Farchione took the jury through the plaintiffs’ “road to Cumberland.” For example, plaintiff AE did not like being touched even before he was admitted to the hospital, he said.

Farchione said all allegations were unfounded. “That says a lot,” he said.

Plaintiff HB broke down in court when Farchione began talking about her in his closing arguments. She was consoled by the complainant AE. Farchione said: “It’s tragic. » However, he clarified that it was not because of Cumberland or Dr. Davidow.

Judge Bradley Cavedo reminded the jury Friday that Cumberland Hospital concealed or destroyed evidence of billing practices, including admitting a diagnosis. He said it was unfavorable.

A man and six women made up the jury and the verdict was a majority.

If the jury finds in favor of the plaintiffs and awards damages, and if it finds that the defendant’s actions were willful, under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, it has the opportunity to triple those damages.

Dr. Davidow was found not guilty of sexual abuse charges involving two other former Cumberland patients in New Kent County in April.

CBS 6 investigative reporter Laura French has been covering this case for five years. She’s in the courtroom.

For live updates, follow her on @lfrenchnews.