In an unprecedented move, Columbia University has announced that it will conduct an external investigation into the systemic failures that allowed Robert Hadden, an OB-GYN, to abuse hundreds of patients over the course of his 25-year career at the university. The investigation comes in the wake of a ProPublica investigation, published in collaboration with New York Magazine, which revealed that Columbia had failed to act on years of warnings regarding Hadden's misconduct.

Despite being arrested for assaulting a patient in 2012, Hadden was allowed to continue seeing patients under the administration's approval. This revelation prompted waves of criticism towards Columbia, with state Assembly members holding a press conference on campus and the university senate passing a unanimous resolution expressing their deep concern over the scandal's impact on the community.

As part of their response to the public outcry, Columbia University has committed to notify nearly 6,500 former Hadden patients about his crimes. Additionally, the university has established a $100 million survivors' settlement fund, offering an alternative recourse for those who choose not to pursue legal action through the court system.

The university, which had previously sought to distance itself from the scandal and place the blame solely on Hadden, had resisted demands from survivors to notify all of Hadden's patients. It had also refused to commission an external investigation and aggressively fought against lawsuits filed by survivors.

However, with Hadden having been convicted of sex crimes in federal court and currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, Columbia University's president, Minouche Shafik, and Columbia University Irving Medical Center CEO, Katrina Armstrong, issued a statement on Monday expressing their deep remorse for failing the survivors. They acknowledged that Columbia had failed these individuals and pledged to right the wrongs.

The timing of this announcement is critical, given the upcoming deadline for survivors to file suit against the university. The one-year lookback window, provided by the Adult Survivors Act, allows survivors to file civil suits against perpetrators of sexual abuse or institutions that protected them, even if the statute of limitations has expired. The deadline for filing suits under this provision closes on November 23.

It is worth noting that the university had previously settled civil suits with 226 patients for a staggering amount of $236.5 million. Marissa Hoechstetter, a former Hadden patient and advocate for the Adult Survivors Act, expressed her satisfaction that Columbia had finally taken action. However, she cautioned that the $100 million survivor settlement fund may not be sufficient, as the full extent of Hadden's crimes is yet to be determined.

Columbia University's commitment to conducting an external investigation and establishing a sizable survivors' settlement fund marks a significant turning point in addressing the aftermath of the OB-GYN abuse scandal. Survivors of Hadden's misconduct now have a path to seek justice and closure while the university takes proactive steps to rectify the systemic failures that allowed such abuse to persist within their institution.