New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 29, 2024

Twenty plaintiffs sue Cumberland Hospital, parent company for $127 million

By Community Member | October 21, 2020 1:08 am

A lawsuit filed on the behalf of 20 families of former patients at Cumberland Children’s Hospital located in New Kent County is seeking $127 million.

In a press release, Breit Cantor Attorneys filed the civil suit in Richmond Circuit Court Tuesday morning. The suit was filed against Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Universal Health Services who owns the company, psychotherapist Herschel “Mickey” Harden, and former medical director Daniel N. Davidow.

The suit alleges the victims were inappropriately touched in their genitalia areas during routine medical exams. Victims range in age from 9-26, with residents residing in 11 different states. Along with the alleged inappropriate touching, victims also said they were physically struck, resulting in long-term pain and suffering, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), embarrassment, depression, sleep disorders, and bodily injuries.

“We have heard from children and parents that when a parent or other advocate was in the room, Dr. Davidow would say ne needed to feel the female patients’ femoral pulse, located on the upper inner thighs and did so with the knowledge of the staff,” said attorney Kevin Biniazan. “Dr. Davidod would then place his hands beneath the patient’s undergarments and sexually abuse them by intentionally touching their inanimate parts.”

The lawsuit alleges that roommates or other patients sexually abused younger and weaker plaintiffs after hours, “without intervention from staff” and “sexually abused and battered” them by “groping and fondling” their “inappropriate parts.”

“The defendants operated an unsafe facility that subjected the patients, including the plaintiffs, to constant threats to their basic safety, devoid of fundamental sanitation, or humanity,” according to the 69-page report.

The suit accuses the defendants of assault and battery, negligence, false imprisonment, fraud, and reckless disregard and violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial.

Harden is currently facing two criminal counts of sexual penetration of an object by force in New Kent Circuit Court related to the alleged crimes. His jury trial is tentative set for February 2021.