PROVO, Utah — A complaint filed against a Provo doctor alleges that while he worked as an OB-GYN, he sexually assaulted many of his patients over the course of 30 years.
Dr. David H. Broadbent is a Utah resident and has owned a private practice in Utah county, located very close to student housing for Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University since the 1980's.
In the complaint, four women have come forward to say that between 1996 and 2018, when they went in for their appointments with Broadbent, they were sexually abused instead of receiving care.
"In each instance, Plaintiffs felt horrible and violated, but Broadbent concealed his sexual misconduct under the guise of medically necessary care and hid behind the protected position of authority and trust inherently given to physicians," court documents read.
In December of 2021, an interviewee told her own story of sexual abuse as a patient of Broadbent's and women started to come forward, sharing similar experiences of violating behavior.
The complaint details the experiences of the four women as patients in Broadbent's practice.
In all four instances, the women describe Broadbent inappropriately touching them with no warning and giving no explanation as to what was being done during their appointment. They also describe inappropriate comments that were made during examinations.
"As a direct and proximate result of Broadbent’s unlawful conduct, Plaintiffs suffered emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, mental distress, anxiety, and other damages in an amount to be proven at trial, but which are greater than $300,000 each," the complaint reads. "Broadbent concealed his actions under the guise of medically necessary care, shattered the trust these Plaintiffs and countless others placed in him, and committed these wrongful actions with no regard for the harm they caused to Plaintiffs and others."
MountainStar is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit because plaintiffs say the Hospital had a duty to supervise Broadbent and also say the hospital had received complaints about his behavior.
In a statement to FOX 13 News, Mountainstar said that although he was never employed by the hospital, he did see a small number of patients at one of their facilities.
"We sympathize with and fully support any individuals in the recently filed lawsuit who may have experienced this alleged behavior at the physician’s private clinic in Provo," the statement reads. "Like hundreds of other physicians who practice privately in our community, this physician is not employed by any MountainStar hospital. Over the years, this physician has seen 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. While we empathize with the people involved, we believe we were inappropriately named in this lawsuit and we will defend ourselves accordingly.
A statement from the Plaintiff's law firm expressed that they are hopeful that other women who experienced abuse at the hands of Dr. Broadbent will come forward.
"We are proud to represent these victims," the statement reads. "If there are more out there we hope to help them and these plaintiffs find justice."
The Salt Lake Tribune, a content-sharing partner of FOX 13 News, made calls to a number listed for Broadbent’s office on Friday. Those calls were not returned.
