Dr. Patrick Stephen Clyne, a former pediatrician and foster parent in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties, has been accused by more than a dozen former foster youth and pediatric patients of sexual abuse spanning more than two decades. In 2025, following enforcement action by the California Attorney General, he surrendered his medical license.
If you were treated by Dr. Clyne, or placed in his care as a foster youth, the allegations may stir up difficult feelings and hard questions. Here is what survivors should know about their options.
What Dr. Clyne Is Accused Of
More than a dozen former foster youth and pediatric patients have accused Dr. Clyne of sexual abuse, with allegations that include invasive and medically unnecessary examinations over a period of more than twenty years.
These are allegations, and he is entitled to a defense. At the same time, the surrender of his medical license in 2025, after action by the state, marked a significant step in the process.
Why Foster Youth and Pediatric Patients Are Vulnerable
Children in foster care and young patients are among the most vulnerable to abuse. They may not understand what is appropriate, may fear they will not be believed, and often depend on the very adults who hold power over them.
When the same person occupies both a medical role and a caregiving role, that imbalance is magnified, and the opportunity for abuse to go unreported grows.
How Medical Abuse Claims Work
Abuse committed under the guise of a medical examination is still abuse. An exam that is invasive, medically unnecessary, or performed without appropriate justification or safeguards can form the basis of a civil claim.
These cases focus on how a position of medical trust was misused, and they are evaluated based on the facts of each survivor's experience.
Who May Be Held Responsible
Responsibility may extend beyond an individual. Employers, clinics, and the agencies that placed foster youth in his care could bear legal responsibility if they failed to screen, supervise, or act on warning signs.
Theories such as negligent hiring, supervision, and retention examine what these institutions knew and what they failed to do to protect children.
What Counts as an Improper Examination
Patients often trust that whatever happens during a medical exam is normal and necessary. Abusers exploit that trust. An examination can be improper when it is not medically justified, when it goes beyond what a legitimate exam requires, or when it is performed without appropriate consent, explanation, or a chaperone present.
Because patients, and especially children, may not know what is medically appropriate, abuse in a clinical setting can go unrecognized for years. Realizing later that something was wrong does not make your experience any less valid.
Why a License Surrender Matters
When a physician surrenders a medical license following state enforcement action, it can be a significant development. It does not by itself resolve any survivor's civil claim, but it reflects that regulators found serious cause for concern.
For survivors, that kind of official action can be validating, and it can also be useful context. A civil claim, however, is separate and focuses on compensating the harm to each individual patient or foster youth.
Why Patients Often Realize Only Later
It is common for survivors of medical abuse to understand what happened only years afterward. As children, patients trust that everything a doctor does is necessary and appropriate. Foster youth, who may have had little prior medical care, often have no baseline for what is normal.
That delayed recognition is not a weakness in a claim. The law in California and elsewhere increasingly accounts for the fact that survivors may not connect their experience to abuse until much later, sometimes when news coverage or another patient's account brings clarity.
If you are only now recognizing that something done to you was wrong, that realization is valid. It does not mean you waited too long, and it is worth finding out what options remain.
What Compensation Can Help Address
For survivors of medical abuse, a civil claim is meant to address the harm done under the guise of care. That can include the cost of therapy and treatment, the impact on a survivor's ability to trust doctors and seek medical help, and the lasting emotional toll.
Survivors of childhood medical abuse, including former foster youth, may carry these effects for decades. Compensation cannot undo the experience, but it can fund healing and affirm that what happened was wrong and not the survivor's fault.
Because each survivor's experience differs, there is no single figure. The value of a claim reflects the specific facts, the evidence, and the documented impact, which is part of why thorough, supportive representation matters.
Steps for Survivors and Families
California has expanded the time survivors of childhood sexual abuse have to come forward, so even abuse from years ago may still be actionable. The right path depends on the specific facts and current deadlines.
Coming forward is a personal decision, and it can be done confidentially and at your own pace. Records such as treatment dates and placement information can help support a claim.
Help Law Group offers free, confidential consultations. If you were a patient or foster youth in Dr. Clyne's care, we can help you understand your options without pressure.