Marisa Peryer, Senior Photographer

After finding that former School of Medicine professor Eugene Redmond held an active medical license, the University reported him to the Connecticut Department of Public Health on Aug. 6, 2019. The report comes more than a year after the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct found him responsible for sexually harassing a Yale College student and learned that Redmond performed a coercive rectal exam on the student under the guise of medical care. 

The former School of Medicine professor holds an active license to practice medicine in Connecticut and was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1977, according to state records publicly available online. But, according to University spokesperson Karen Peart, the delay in reporting Redmond occurred because Yale was not aware Redmond held an active medical license.

“Yale was informed, incorrectly, that Redmond — a researcher who did not see patients — was not licensed to practice in Connecticut,” University spokesperson Karen Peart wrote in an email Wednesday to the News. “After we learned that he did have a license, we filed a report.”

Peart did not respond to additional questions asking who misinformed Yale or why University officials did not verify publicly available information such as the status of medical licensure. 

An independent Yale-commissioned investigation released this week found that Redmond sexually assaulted five students, harassed at least eight others and performed three inappropriate genital and/or rectal exams on students over a 25-year period. Though School of Medicine officials first learned Redmond engaged in sexual misconduct in 1994, the report stated that the medical school failed “to implement any meaningful monitoring mechanisms to ensure ongoing oversight” of Redmond’s conduct.

In the report, one student said they felt “uneasy and ashamed” about receiving a rectal exam, but “wondered whether he was overreacting and misjudging the situation given Redmond’s medical license.” 

Prior to the release of the report this week, the University said that it was only aware of one inappropriate medical exam through investigating the 2018 UWC case.

Dominique Penson, a partner at Barasch McGarry Salzman & Penson in New York who has represented hundreds of clergy sexual abuse survivors, called Peart’s justification for the delay “mystifying.” 

“It’s a little hard to believe that the School of Medicine — which employs a lot of doctors, many of whom are licensed in the State of Connecticut — didn’t think that he might have a license in the State of Connecticut,” Penson said. “And as for thinking he didn’t have a license: As some of the core complaints were that he was conducting improper examinations, which sounds like mistreatment, it’s mystifying and a little hard to believe that nobody knew or thought to check with the Department of Health.”

Wednesday’s response from Peart was not the first time Yale fielded questions about Redmond’s medical license. In the midst of the independent investigation, the News asked former University spokesperson Tom Conroy in a Feb. 22, 2019 email if Yale had reported Redmond to the state medical board following the 2018 UWC case. 

Conroy replied on Feb. 24 that the University could not comment because the independent investigation was still ongoing. 

“We don’t have an[y] updates on the investigation for you,” Conroy wrote. “As the investigation is ongoing, I don’t have any responses to the questions you shared.” 

Connecticut first granted Redmond his medical license in 1987, per online records. Redmond reported to the state that he currently practices his licensed profession in Connecticut, though the records also say Redmond is not actively involved in patient care.

“There are many people who hold a medical degree but do not treat patients,” Peart told the News Wednesday. “Dr. Redmond, for example, did not treat patients. Some doctors who do not treat patients maintain a state license and some do not.”

The State Department of Public Health did not return the News’ inquiry earlier this year into the status of Redmond’s medical license given his misconduct. 

As of Thursday, state records say Redmond’s medical license is still active.  However, the records also note that information related to medical malpractice and Connecticut hospital discipline is currently “the subject of a dispute.” 

Marisa Peryer | marisa.peryer@yale.edu .

Jever Mariwala |  jever.mariwala@yale.edu .

Alice Park | alice.park@yale.edu .