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Sexual assault is not a medical procedure and is therefore outside the scope of Utah’s medical malpractice law, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, reviving a lawsuit brought by 94 women who say they were sexually abused by obstetricians during exams and childbirth.
In 2022, a group of women filed a lawsuit against Dr. David Broadbent and the two hospitals where he worked, seeking civil damages. However, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, determining that the women had wrongly filed a civil sexual assault lawsuit instead of a medical malpractice lawsuit. Judge Robert Lunen wrote that all of the women had sought medical care and that Dr. Broadbent was providing medical care at the time the assaults occurred.
The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica reported on the ruling and spoke to women about lower court decisions that made it harder for them to sue doctors for their actions. After the stories were published, the state legislature passed a bill amending its medical malpractice law to exclude sexual assault, but the new law was not retroactive, and women still had no recourse.
So they took their case to the Utah Supreme Court, where their lawyers argued that the lower court judge had erred in his ruling. The Supreme Court agreed, finding that Broadbent’s actions were not part of the woman’s health care and therefore not covered by Utah’s medical malpractice law.
“Here, [women] “The Defendants do not allege that they were harmed by the medical care provided by Dr. Broadbent,” Judge Paige Petersen wrote in her unanimous decision. “Rather, the Defendants allege that Dr. Broadbent abused his position as a physician and sexually assaulted them under the guise of providing medical care.”
“The crux of their argument is that what he did was not actually a medical procedure at all,” Petersen added.
Stephanie Matthier was the first woman to speak out publicly about Broadbent, recounting her experience on the “Mormon Stories” podcast in 2021. During the episode, Matthier described a painful and traumatic doctor’s visit, as well as discovering online reviews that mirrored her experience.
She said she cried “tears of relief” when she read the Utah Supreme Court’s decision Thursday and hoped it would give other alleged victims the courage to speak out and seek justice for themselves.
Adam Sorenson, an attorney for the women who filed the lawsuit, noted Thursday that it had been nearly two years since Lunen dismissed their lawsuit and called it a “sad and disappointing day.”
“But today’s decision from the Utah Supreme Court affirms everything these women have said from the beginning and sends a message to all Utahns that sexual abuse by health care professionals has never been and will never be ‘health care,'” he said.
“It’s hard to put into words how gratifying it is to hear something like this from the Supreme Court,” he continued, “but my joy pales in comparison to the joy I feel for women who have been sexually abused. [who] “They were told it was just a medical issue, 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 file lawsuits, having their cases deemed malpractice reduced the time they had to sue to two years and limited the amount of compensation they could receive for their suffering.
The Utah Supreme Court’s decision means the case will now go back to Lunen’s courtroom. The lawsuits allege that Broadbent inappropriately touched and injured the women’s breasts, vaginas and rectums without warning or explanation. Some allege that he used his bare hands during the exams, rather than a speculum or gloves. One claims he was erect while touching her.
Broadbent’s lawyers have denied the women’s allegations as “without merit”. The obstetrician-gynaecologist agreed last year to cease practising medicine whilst police and prosecutors investigated.
Broadbent was indicted in June in 4th District Court on a charge of forcible sexual abuse that prosecutors say is ongoing. Broadbent is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Monday.
Broadbent’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Neither Utah Valley Hospital nor Mountain Star Health, which owns Timpanogos Hospital, responded to the ruling in statements released Thursday. Both hospitals were named as defendants in the lawsuit, and both emphasized that Broadbent was authorized to practice medicine at their facilities but was not an employee.
