Utah Supreme Court considers whether to revive a lawsuit that accused a Provo OB-GYN of sexually abusing dozens of women

Dozens of plaintiffs and their supporters gathered outside the Utah Supreme Court Friday morning wearing and sharing teal ribbons, a show of unity for the women who have accused a Provo doctor of sexually assaulting them over the span of his 47-year career.

Those who attended are among the 94 women who have sued OB-GYN David Broadbent, alleging he sexually abused them as they sought medical care. The women want to seek civil damages from him and two hospitals where he had delivered some of their babies — but a judge dismissed their case last year because they had filed it as a civil sexual assault claim rather than a medical malpractice case.

That’s what brought them to the courthouse in Salt Lake City Friday: To watch as the Utah Supreme Court hears arguments about whether that judge made an error when he ruled that Utah’s medical malpractice law covers any act or treatment performed by any health care provider during the patient’s medical care. The women had all been seeking health care, Judge Robert Lunnen wrote, and Broadbent was providing that when the alleged assaults happened.

Whether their case is considered malpractice or a civil sex assault claim matters because many of Broadbent’s accusers could lose their chance to sue — malpractice claims have to be filed in a shorter, two-year window of time. And even for those who would still be able to sue, malpractice law also limits how much money they could receive for pain and suffering.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Plaintiffs and their supporters wear teal ribbons ahead of the Utah Supreme Court hearing an appeal in their lawsuit alleging their OB-GYN David Broadbent sexually assaulted them. The hearing was held in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Trent Nelson/)

The women’s lawsuit alleges Broadbent inappropriately touched their breasts, vaginas and rectums, without warning or explanation, and hurt them. Some said he used his bare hand — instead of using a speculum or wearing gloves — during exams. One alleged that she saw he had an erection while he was touching her.

An attorney for Broadbent has denied these women’s allegations, saying they are “without merit.” The OB-GYN agreed last year to stop practicing medicine while police and prosecutors investigate.

This case changed Utah law earlier this year, after state legislators clarified that the medical malpractice act does not cover sexual assault. But the law change was not retroactive, so the women appealed to Utah’s highest court.

Attorneys for Broadbent and the hospitals argued in court papers filed ahead of Friday’s hearing that Lunnen properly ruled that the exams the women described “arose” out of health care treatments, and therefore, were covered by Utah’s medical malpractice law.

They wrote that legislators reforming the medical malpractice law earlier this year only confirmed that Lunnen’s decision was correct — and that the women’s allegations fell within the scope of the malpractice law at the time it their suit was filed.

The attorneys added that there is “a real question” as to whether Broadbent’s actions were medically necessary.

“For example, several plaintiffs alleged that, during a scheduled gynecological exam, Dr. Broadbent inserted his fingers or a speculum into their vaginas or rectums in an abrupt or painful way,” the lawyers wrote. “Because that touching occurred during a medically indicated vaginal exam, there is a question as to whether the pain the patient experienced was typical for a non-negligent version of such an exam or whether the pain was the result of negligence.”

But Adam Sorenson, an attorney for the 94 women, wrote in his filing that while an OB-GYN may touch women’s bodies as part of necessary medical care, what Broadbent did was not normal medical treatment and was done for his own sexual gratification.

Sorenson further argued in his written filing that abuse does not “arise” out of whatever profession a perpetrator uses to enable abuse. By that logic, he argued, when a young boy goes to a priest for a confession and is sexually abused, that abuse arises from religion. Or if a gymnast is groped in the shower by a coach, that abuse arises from athletics. Or if a teacher has sex with a student at school, that arises from education.

“But the truth is that sexual abuse does not arise from religion, sports, scouting, education, or health care,” he wrote. “Sexual abuse originates from the worst of human society — from sexual predators who hide behind titles and institutions and use their positions of authority to gain access to and abuse people in vulnerable situations. Sexual abuse is sexual abuse regardless of how the perpetrator disguises it.”

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