Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center and 125 people who say a former doctor molested them have been trying to reach a settlement, but talks have fallen apart.
"The victims are obviously disappointed that the mediation reached the impasse that it did, but the victims are coming together," said Paul Edwards, an attorney for Stratton Faxon, one of the firms representing the victims.
The ugly wall of secrets crumbled in 2008, when 50,000 slides of child pornography spewed forth from inside a wall in the West Hartford home of a dead doctor.
The plaintiffs have accused the hospital of being negligent in allowing abuse to occur for decades in the offices of Dr. George Reardon, who died in 1998. Nearly a decade later, residents of his former home discovered a trove of pictures of naked children, many of whom had been Reardon's patients.
"We believe that there's substantial evidence and that evidence will show that as early as the late 60's, the hospital was in a position to stop this," said Rick Kenny of Kenny, O'Keefe and Usseglio.
Hospital officials have said they did not know about specific allegations against Reardon until 1993, when the state sought to revoke his license.
St. Francis released a statement on Thursday about the failed settlement attempts saying they were disappointed that the cases could not be resolved through mediation at this time.
A trial is schedule for March 2011 in Waterbury, but attorneys for the victims are hoping to have it pushed up for sometime in the next six to nine months.
