Utah Supreme Court Rulings Alleging Sexual Abuse by Doctor Is Not “Health Care”

Sexual harassment is not health care, and is not covered by Utah’s medical malpractice statute, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The decision revives a lawsuit filed by 94 women who allege that their OB-GYN sexually assaulted them during exams or while delivering their babies.

In 2022, a group of women sued Dr. David Broadbent and the two hospitals where he worked, want to seek public compensation. But a judge dismissed their case because he ruled they had wrongly filed it as a sexual assault claim rather than a medical malpractice case. All the women were seeking health care, wrote Judge Robert Lunnen, and Broadbent was providing that when the alleged assaults occurred.

The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica covered the decision, talking to women about a lower court decision that made it harder for them to sue the doctor for his actions. After that story broke, the state Legislature voted to change the medical malpractice law to cover sexual assault. But the new law did not work again; women still had no recourse.

So they took their case to the Utah Supreme Court, where their attorneys argued that the lower court judge made a mistake in his decision. The high court agreed. Broadbent’s alleged conduct, it found, was not part of women’s health care — and therefore, not covered by Utah’s medical malpractice laws.

“Look, the [women] do not claim that they were harmed by any health care that Broadbent may have provided them,” Judge Paige Petersen wrote in the unanimous ruling. Instead, they claim that he abused his position as a doctor to sexually abuse them under the guise of providing health care.”

“The point of their allegations is that his actions were not healthy at all,” Petersen added.

Stephanie Mateer was the first woman to speak publicly about Broadbent, detailing her experience on the “Mormon Stories” podcast in 2021. In that episode, she described what she said as the painful way the doctor examine him about it, how it left him depressed. and how he found online feedback that resonated with his experience.

She said Thursday that she cried “tears of relief” when she read the Utah Supreme Court’s decision, and that she hopes it will give other alleged victims the courage to speak out. seek justice for yourself.

Adam Sorenson, an attorney for the women who sued, noted Thursday that it has been nearly two years since Lunnen dropped their case — which he said was “a very sad day.” what a shame.”

“But the Utah Supreme Court’s decision today reaffirms everything these women have said from the beginning, and tells every Utahn that sexual harassment is A health care provider has never been, and never will be, ‘health care,’ ” he said.

She continued: “It’s hard to describe how happy it is to hear that in our highest court, but any joy I feel is nothing compared to the women who sexual harassment, [who] they were told it was just health care, they fought for three years, and now they can say Utah law is on their side on this important issue. “

For the women who did press charges, having their case a felony reduced the time they had to stand trial to two years and reduced the amount they could receive for pain and suffering.

With the Utah Supreme Court’s decision, the case now returns to Lunnen’s court. Their suit alleges that Broadbent inappropriately touched their breasts, genitals or genitals, without warning or explanation, and harmed them. Some say he used his bare hand – instead of using a speculum or wearing gloves – during examinations. Another said she stood up while he was touching her.

Broadbent’s attorney denied the women’s allegations, calling them “meritless.” The OB-GYN agreed last year to stop administering the medication while police and prosecutors investigated.

He was indicted in June in 4th District Court on one count of forced sexual assault, and prosecutors say their investigation is ongoing. Broadbent is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday.

Broadbent’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Neither Utah Valley Hospital nor Mountainstar Health, which owns Timpanogos Hospital, responded to the decision in press releases released Thursday. Both hospitals are listed as defendants in the lawsuit, and both emphasize that Broadbent had rights to practice at their facilities but was not an employee.