Doctor's license suspended, accused of sexual abuse of patients

PLAINVILLE, CT — A doctor practicing in Plainville has had his license revoked by the state after health officials say he pressured two female patients into sexual contact in exchange for prescriptions and other medications.

The Connecticut Board of Medical Examiner suspended Dr. Henry Todd after the Department of Health declared that his ability to practice medicine posed a clear and imminent danger.
Dr. Todd had been a physician in the Plainville practice of Hartford Healthcare Medical Group.
Officials there told us he was fired after a patient complained of sexual abuse.

They reported the case to the DPH.

Joelle Newton, attorney for the DPH, told the medical board: “He induced Patient 1 to engage in sexual contact in exchange for prescriptions for drugs, including controlled substances. Doctor Todd prescribed narcotics to this patient without an examination, toxicology test, or informed consent.”

The DPH said he cared for the patient for 10 years but continued to write prescriptions even after she was no longer his patient in 2022.

They claim he “breached the duty of care by failing to adequately treat, evaluate and/or examine Patient #1, failing to prescribe controlled substances with clinical justification, failing to order urine toxicology testing, failing to maintain adequate medical records, and/or failing to adequately review the Connecticut Prescription Monitoring and Reporting System.”

The department says he did the same thing to a second patient.

“The defendant had sexual contact with Patient 2 during office hours,” says Newton. “He developed an opiate addiction to Patient 2 to satisfy his sexual needs.”

According to DPH, Dr. Todd also accessed the first patient's medical records more than 2,500 times after she was no longer his patient and used that access to entice her to engage in unwanted sexual conduct.
Dr. Todd's attorney, Paul Spinella, said he only received the case files last week.
He made a motion to continue the meeting, but this was rejected.

Tuesday's meeting was a summary suspension hearing. Under state law, the DPH can immediately suspend a license without giving the holder an opportunity to contest the action before the effective date and time of the suspension if there are public safety concerns.

“I don't have an answer to that. When I'm presented with all of these documents. And we're hearing all of these rumors,” says attorney Spinella. “How am I supposed to respond to that when I don't have sufficient evidence, no discovery? That's a mockery of any kind of probable cause or due process.”

We asked the State Police if there was a criminal investigation into Dr. Todd.

State police said, “After querying our reporting system for this name, we are unable to find any ongoing CSP investigative actions matching this description.”

Plainville police did not respond.

Here is the full statement from Hartford HealthCare Medical Group: “Dr. Henry Todd was terminated by Hartford HealthCare Medical Group following an investigation into a patient complaint of sexual misconduct. The matter was also reported to the appropriate authorities. The safety and well-being of our patients and colleagues is Hartford HealthCare Medical Group's highest priority, today and always.”

Click here to watch video of this WFSB-TV story.

(Editor’s note: This story was reported and written by the staff of WFSB 3 TV and is reprinted in full on Patch with permission).