Sexual assault is not health care, and it isn’t covered by Utah’s medical malpractice law, the Utah Supreme Court ruled in a Thursday decision — an order that revives a lawsuit filed by 94 women who allege their OB-GYN sexually abused them during exams or while he delivered their babies.
In 2022, the group of women sued David Broadbent and two hospitals where he had worked, wanting to seek civil damages. But a judge dismissed their case because he decided they had filed it incorrectly as a civil sexual assault claim, rather than a medical malpractice case.
They took their case to the Utah Supreme Court, where their attorneys argued that the 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 a 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.
The high court disagreed with Lunnen, and ruled that Broadbent’s alleged conduct was not a part of the women’s health care — and therefore, not covered by Utah’s medical malpractice laws.
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