George Tyndall’s death determined to be of ‘natural causes’
The ex-USC gynecologist was set to appear in court in October for alleged sex crimes before he was found deceased in his home.
George Tyndall. (Daily Trojan file photo)
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner has determined that George Tyndall, the former USC gynecologist accused of sexually abusing hundreds of patients, died of natural causes in October.
The Medical Examiner reported Tuesday that Tyndall died as a result of “arteriosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.” Tyndall died while out on bond, waiting for his trial to begin after pleading not guilty to charges of sexual misconduct.
This is a developing story. Previous reporting follows below:
Former USC gynecologist George Tyndall, charged in 2019 with 27 felonies allegedly committed against hundreds of his patients, including 18 counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and nine counts of sexual battery, was found dead Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home at the age of 76.
Tyndall worked as a gynecologist for 27 years at the Engemann Student Health Center, where many of his patients were students at the University, some of them as young as 18 years old.
Investigators said the alleged crimes occurred between 2009 and 2016. Tyndall pleaded not guilty to all charges in 2019. The University first dismissed him from Student Health in 2016 after a nurse reported his behavior to a campus rape crisis center.
Tyndall’s patients filed complaints against him over the span of nearly three decades, from 1988 to 2017.
USC came to two settlements with more than 17,000 women totalling more than $1 billion — the largest settlement ever paid in higher education in response to alleged sex crimes.
The University did not provide a comment on Tyndall’s death.
No cause of death has been released, as of the time of publication. The L.A. County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner did not have any information regarding his death.
The exact cause will not be known until the coroner’s office completes its report. Tyndall’s defense attorney, Leonard Levine, said in an interview with the Daily Trojan that he guessed the coroner report would take one to two weeks to complete, but thought it might get expedited because of an Oct. 13 court date.
“All he ever wanted was his day in court, which he was confident would end in his complete exoneration,” Levine said. “Now, neither he nor his accusers will get that, and that is very unfortunate for everyone involved.”
Levine said the charges against Tyndall will be dropped, and that Tyndall is still presumed innocent because he has not been convicted.
