One month after four women filed a complaint against a Provo OB-GYN claiming he sexually assaulted them, dozens of other women have joined the lawsuit, saying they had similar experiences.
The complaint alleges that Dr. David H. Broadbent, who has owned a private practice in Provo since the 1980's used his position to take advantage of his patients.
"Dr. David H. Broadbent took advantage of his position, Plaintiffs’ vulnerability, and that relationship of trust as he sexually battered and abused Plaintiffs and numerous other women over the course of four decades," the amended complaint states.
The amended complaint, filed on March 14, lists 50 plaintiffs who have joined the lawsuit since it was filed in February. The "Jane Doe's" are listed by their initials only.
Read - Women speak out against Provo OB-GYN accused of sexually abusing patients
One plaintiff in the complaint said in 2018, Broadbent was recommended to her when she became pregnant with her first child. At one of her appointments, Broadbent instructed her to lay down to receive a pap smear.
"[She] previously had a pap smear and knew that it caused pain and discomfort, so she quickly reached for the nurse’s hand and immediately asked Broadbent to wait a minute so she could relax her body," the plaintiff said in the complaint.
The complaint goes on to say, "Broadbent chuckled and said 'Oh you need a minute to get ready to get assaulted?'"
Another woman listed in the complaint said her experience with Dr. Broadbent in 1991 was so traumatic that she, "felt like an object; like a faceless piece of meat." The woman is turning 50 soon and said she has found it difficult to trust other men because of her experience.
Another plaintiff said that she visited Broadbent in 1990 when she got pregnant. She said Broadbent told her she, "was getting fat, explaining if she was not careful, she would get fat hips that would spill over the chair and 'no man wants to get with that,'" the complaint states.
After she gave birth and went back to Broadbent for a postnatal visit the lawsuit states, "he talked about what a good job he did sewing her tight and winked at [her] husband. That was the last time she saw him."
In most of the accounts, the plaintiffs explained that although they felt violated, they trusted Broadbent because he was a doctor. When news reports began to come out about the allegations against Broadbent, many of the women remembered their own personal experiences and wanted to join the lawsuit.
The plaintiff's allege that the proximity of Broadbent's office to Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University put him in a position to have access to many young women who may not have known what happens at an OB-GYN.
The complaint also lists MountainStar and Intermountain Healthcare as defendants for "negligent supervision."
A representative for Utah Valley Hospital offered a statement in response to the lawsuit.
"Dr. Broadbent is an independent physician and has never been an employee of Utah Valley Hospital," the statement reads. "When the hospital learned of this lawsuit, Dr. Broadbent’s privileges to deliver babies or provide any other services at the hospital were immediately suspended. We take these allegations very seriously and are committed to ensure the safety of our patients."
FOX 13 News reached out to MountainStar when the original complaint was filed and they reported that Broadbent was not employed by the company, rather he saw a "small number of patients at one of our facilities each year; however, to our knowledge, there are no allegations of inappropriate conduct at our facility. The physician is not currently authorized to see patients at our facility."
David C. Epperson, Broadbent’s attorney, told The Salt Lake Tribune, a content-sharing partner of FOX 13 News,“Dr. Broadbent categorically denies all of the allegations of wrongdoing that are asserted in this lawsuit. Medical ethics prevent Dr. Broadbent from saying anything more, but he believes that time will prove that the charges in this lawsuit have no basis.”
