David Harrison Broadbent

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1. David H. Broadbent Claims Arizona Bride
   view source details | 1 Jan 1974 | Provo Daily Herald
2. Sexual abuse class action lawsuit now has 50 Jane Does, more expected
   view source details | 17 Mar 2022 | Provo Daily Herald
3. 'Disgusted': Utah Doc Accused of Sexually Abusing 83 Women
   view source details | 2 May 2022 | The Daily Beast
4. Utah County judge dismisses case against Provo OB-GYN accused of sexual abuse by more than 50 patients
   view source details | 5 Oct 2022 | Gephardt Daily
5. Attorney prepares malpractice claim against Provo OB/GYN accused of sexual abuse
   view source details | 20 Jan 2023 | Provo Daily Herald
6. 94 Women Allege a Utah Doctor Sexually Assaulted Them. Here’s Why a Judge Threw Out Their Case.
   view source details | 22 Feb 2023 | ProPublica
7. Attorney questions whether Utah County will bring criminal charges against former doctor
   view source details | 30 Aug 2023 | Provo Daily Herald
8. Utah women among dozens appealing court’s decision regarding Provo OB-GYN lawsuit
   view source details | 12 Oct 2023 | ABC4
9. Utah magazine apologizes after including an OB-GYN repeatedly accused of sexual assault in its ‘Best Of’ issue
   view source details | 28 May 2024 | Salt Lake Tribune
10. Utah County doctor sued by nearly 100 women faces first criminal charge
    view source details | 27 Jun 2024 | KSL
11. Utah OB-GYN David Broadbent charged with forcible sexual abuse for 2020 patient exam
    view source details | 27 Jun 2024 | Salt Lake Tribune

Case information source details

• David H. Broadbent Claims Arizona Bride
  Publisher: Provo Daily Herald
  Date: 1 Jan 1974
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article
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  Sexual abuse class action lawsuit now has 50 Jane Does, more expected
  Publisher: Provo Daily Herald
  Date: 17 Mar 2022
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article
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  'Disgusted': Utah Doc Accused of Sexually Abusing 83 Women
  Publisher: The Daily Beast
  Date: 2 May 2022
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article
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  Utah County judge dismisses case against Provo OB-GYN accused of sexual abuse by more than 50 patients
  Publisher: Gephardt Daily
  Date: 5 Oct 2022
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article
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  Attorney prepares malpractice claim against Provo OB/GYN accused of sexual abuse
  Publisher: Provo Daily Herald
  Date: 20 Jan 2023
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article

  The sign for David Broadbent's office in the North University Medical & Dental facility in Provo is shown on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

  On Oct. 4, 2022, Fourth District Court Judge Robert Lunnen dismissed a class action lawsuit against Dr. David Broadbent, a Provo obstetrics and gynecology specialist accused of sexual abuse and sexual battery of female patients. Over 80 women originally signed on to the lawsuit.

  Lunnen did so because he believed the charges should have been medical malpractice claims and that pre-litigation procedures were not done correctly.

  Now, attorney Eric Nielson is representing more than 20 “Jane Does” — along with other attorneys representing possibly up to 200 more women — in filing a malpractice claim against Broadbent, Nielson told the Daily Herald.

  Nielson sent a letter to Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray on Wednesday, asking why the office did not pursue criminal charges against Broadbent.

  “My clients are some of the most powerless individuals in our society — many do not speak English and they do not have health insurance,” Nielson wrote. “You will, of course, fulfill your oath as a prosecutor if you choose to prosecute Dr. Broadbent.”

  When asked about Nielson’s letter and the decision to not charge Broadbent, representatives for the Utah County Attorney’s office were caught off guard and lacked background on the case.

  “We’re still waiting for additional information,” said Tim Taylor, attorney’s office chief of staff.

  According to then-county attorney David Leavitt, the case was not referred to his office by Provo police.

  In his letter, Nielson argued in favor of charges for Broadbent by quoting policy from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. ACOG is the only professional organization for OB/GYNs and is universally regarded as the “governing body” for the specialty.

  ACOG Recommendations Number 796 states, “Sexual misconduct by an obstetrician – gynecologist is an abuse of power and a violation of patients’ trust. Sexual or romantic interaction between an obstetrician – gynecologist and a current patient is always unethical, is grounds for investigation and sanction, and in some cases should be considered for criminal prosecution.”

  The ACOG also states that Obstetrician-gynecologists are obligated ethically and professionally to report sexual misconduct or suspected sexual misconduct by any health care professional to appropriate authorities, such as supervisors, department chairs or other institutional officials, peer review organizations and professional licensing boards.

  Nielson indicated that many of his clients came forward in March and April 2022 to describe their experiences to the Provo Police Department.

  “The experience was profoundly disquieting. Investigating officers minimized their complaints. They were dismissive,” Nielson wrote. He added that officers asked a series of questions that clients found invasive including “Why didn’t you come to us sooner?” and “How do you know this wasn’t just a routine pelvic exam?”

  According to ACOG guidelines, “Sexual impropriety may comprise behavior, gestures, or expressions that are seductive, sexually suggestive, disrespectful of patient privacy, or sexually demeaning to a patient that may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  Performing an intimate examination or consultation without clinical justification or appropriate consent;
  Examination or touching of genital mucosal areas without the use of gloves;
  Inappropriate comments about or to the patient, including but not limited to, making sexual comments about a patient’s body or underclothing, making sexualized or sexually demeaning comments to a patient, criticizing the patient’s sexual orientation, making non-clinically relevant comments about potential sexual performance during an examination.”

  Jane Does accused Broadbent of violating all of these practices.

  Nielson’s letter to Gray alleged that Broadbent, among other things, used deep penetration vaginally and rough rectal examinations on patients. Patients claimed that Broadbent was so rough in his examinations that his patients were left bleeding.

  “This letter is not the right forum to delve into the individual medical history of each client that I represent. I think you get the point. Dr. Broadbent engaged in a pattern of behavior which clearly reveals an intent to obtain sexual gratification during these exams rather than an intent to gather useful clinical information about his patients. He is getting his rocks off, not looking for cancer,” Nielson wrote.

  He added that Broadbent allegedly surrendered his medical license to the State of Utah within weeks of the initial accusations.

  “Victims of sexual abuse live with the humiliation and shame of what happened to them every day. They are entitled to know that their elected representatives are not going to let Dr. Broadbent get away with this,” Nielson said. “They are entitled to know that similar behavior by other predatory healthcare providers will be deterred in the strongest possible terms. They want to know that their daughters, sisters, and friends will be protected from having to go through this in the future.”

  Nielson informed Gray that he and others intend to prosecute Broadbent to the fullest extent of civil law.

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  94 Women Allege a Utah Doctor Sexually Assaulted Them. Here’s Why a Judge Threw Out Their Case.
  Publisher: ProPublica
  Date: 22 Feb 2023
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article
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  Attorney questions whether Utah County will bring criminal charges against former doctor
  Publisher: Provo Daily Herald
  Date: 30 Aug 2023
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article
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  Utah women among dozens appealing court’s decision regarding Provo OB-GYN lawsuit
  Publisher: ABC4
  Date: 12 Oct 2023
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article

  PROVO, Utah (ABC4) – Over 90 women are planning to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court next week over their lawsuit against a former Provo OB-GYN after a judge tossed out their complaint last year.

  Heather P. and Ashton Sorenson are two of those women.

  Heather says she met with Dr. David Broadbent for nearly 2 years, starting in 2005 when she was 20 years old and expecting her first child. She says he sexually harassed her that entire time.

  “You didn’t know what was ever going to happen,” she said. “You didn’t know what he was going to touch next or what he was going to do.”

  Sorenson says she was a student at Brigham Young University when Broadbent first treated her.

  “Honestly, it only merited a conversation, and what I got was a full body exam, no gloves,” she said. “It was very extensive and painful.”

  Along with 90-plus other women, Heather P. and Sorenson filed a lawsuit against Broadbent in 2022. The suit claims Broadbent caused his patients trauma, pain, anxiety, distress, and other emotional and physical trauma. The allegations go back to the 1980s and involve women from Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Kentucky, Idaho, Virginia, Nebraska, Maryland, Minnesota, and North Carolina.

  The 4th District Court dismissed their case, claiming it was a medical malpractice suit rather than harassment. The attorneys of the victims, however, argued that the claims “arose out of sexual abuse,” and that “sexual abuse is not health care,” according to court documents.

  Despite the case being dismissed, the court still noted in the way of analysis: “[T]he allegations paint a particularly appalling view of Dr. Broadbent and his conduct as an OB-GYN … Dr. Broadbent’s treatment of his patients is insensitive, disrespectful and degrading.”

  “It doesn’t matter how horrific the assault was or how traumatizing, the fact that it was by a doctor during a healthcare visit, in a healthcare facility, that’s what they’re going off of,” Sorenson said.

  These women are planning to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court on Oct. 20 to reinstate it.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the Supreme Court, but I know that by showing up with these strong women we can at the very least heal ourselves and raise awareness to the problems,” Heather said.

  They say their hope is to stop something like this from happening to anyone else.

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  Utah magazine apologizes after including an OB-GYN repeatedly accused of sexual assault in its ‘Best Of’ issue
  Publisher: Salt Lake Tribune
  Date: 28 May 2024
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article

  Women who sued David Broadbent and accused him of sexual assault said they were confused and hurt after seeing he placed third in the “Best Fertility” category.

  (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The University Medical Center office building, Feb. 7, 2023, located on University Avenue in Provo where OB-GYN Dr. David Broadbent once practiced. More than 100 women have publicly accused David Broadbent of sexual assault, and many of them were upset this weekend after seeing that he was named a top fertility doctor in Utah Valley Magazine's "Best of" issue. The magazine has since apologized and removed his name from the list.
  By Jessica Miller
  | May 28, 2024, 10:51 p.m.

  Seeing her former gynecologist listed as one of the area’s top fertility doctors in Utah Valley Magazine has reopened old wounds for Stephanie Mateer.

  In 2021, she spoke out in a podcast and accused OB-GYN David Broadbent of sexually abusing her during an exam more than a decade earlier. Since her public disclosure, more than 120 women have alleged similar misconduct in lawsuits and in reports to the Provo Police Department. They allege that Broadbent inappropriately touched their breasts, vaginas and rectums during exams — often without warning or explanation, and in ways that hurt them and made them feel violated.

  So Utah Valley Magazine’s decision to include Broadbent in its “Best Of” issue was confusing and painful, Mateer said. The magazine had invited readers to vote for their favorites across a number of categories — from medical care to shopping spots — and published the selection of Broadbent as the third top provider in its “fertility” category.

  Utah Valley Magazine’s social media pages have been flooded with comments in the last three days from Utahns who have questioned why the publication recognized someone who has been accused of sexual assault by so many women.

  “Shame on you for allowing David Broadbent to be one of the winners,” one woman wrote. “This list has no merit as long as he is included,” another wrote. “Shows where your morals align.”

  Mateer said she has lost sleep and has a hard time focusing since reading his name on that list, wondering why he was included — particularly because he told licensers he closed his practice in 2022 to focus on defending himself against the accusations that Mateer and the other women have lodged against him.

  (Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Stephanie Mateer, shown at her home on Jan. 20, 2023, is one of 94 women who have sued their OB-GYN David Broadbent, alleging he sexually assaulted them during exams.

  Did his past patients rally to vote for him, she wondered? That possibility felt like a “slap in the face.” Or was it an effort led by his friends? That forced her to remember a time when she said a person who knew Broadbent contacted her on the phone and called her a liar.

  “There is no situation in which this isn’t painful,” she said Tuesday.

  In response, the magazine on Tuesday removed Broadbent’s name from the online list and apologized. It plans to issue an apology in its next print issue. Founding Editor Jeanette Bennett said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune that the magazine’s decision has led to a “difficult learning lesson.”

  Bennett said that her staff’s goal is to have “valid results,” regardless of who advertises with them or pressures them to be included in the “Best Of” lists. The only reason they’ve adjusted results in the past is if it appeared the votes had come from unethical voting, she said, such as “Russian bots sending thousands of votes in the middle of the night.”

  Broadbent received a “significant amount of votes,” Bennett said, theorizing that supporters may have included his name as “a bit of a PR campaign.”

  (Screenshot) Utah Valley Magazine had listed David Broadbent as a leader in "Fertility" in its 2024 "Best Of" issue.

  After seeing that he received enough votes to make the top three, Bennett said, magazine staff checked to see that Broadbent’s license hadn’t been revoked by the state. (Broadbent entered into a stipulation with the Division of Professional Licensing in 2022, agreeing not to practice while Provo police’s investigation was pending. That agreement is considered non-disciplinary, and is still in place.)

  “We chose not to alter the votes, and we let the results stand,” Bennett said. “We have now heard from many women involved in the lawsuit. Their stories are heart-wrenching. We are particularly sorry that our Best Of results added to their sorrows. This is one case in which we should have set the data aside and disregarded our readers’ votes.”

  Bennett said that this negative feedback has caused staff members to add new steps to how they will process contest results in the future. They will now allow the editorial board to override votes, she said, and remove any individuals and companies deemed unfit for the list “for legal, moral and ethical reasons.”

  “We care about our community and all of its residents. We care about women and believe their stories,” she said. “We understand that adding this subjective element to our voting process will provide a needed safety net so that we are truly highlighting and promoting the best of Utah Valley.”

  The majority of comments about Broadbent on Utah Valley Magazine’s Instagram page were posted in the last 72 hours. However, one woman questioned the magazine’s decision 15 weeks ago, when the nominees were announced and reader voting was opened.

  “David Broadbent should be removed from your fertility category,” she wrote. “He has been accused by over 100 women of sexual abuse and using his position as a doctor to take advantage of them. How could he have possibly been added to a list of Utah’s ‘best?’”

  The magazine never replied to this comment.

  Mateer said the magazine’s decision to look to Broadbent’s licensing status when deciding to include him highlights another issue in her mind: That Utah licensers did not revoke his license. Instead, he was allowed to enter into a “non-disciplinary” stipulation where he voluntarily agreed to stop seeing patients for the time being.

  “The fact that Utah has not revoked his licensed after hundreds of women have accused him of sexual assault is appalling,” she said.

  Though Broadbent has been accused in civil lawsuits and in at least 49 reports made to police, he has not been charged with a crime. Utah County prosecutors have been deciding whether to charge him for the last 18 months, and Deputy Utah County Attorney Tim Taylor said last month that they were working to get extra funding to hire a medical expert to give an opinion before making a decision.

  According to the stipulation with licensers, Broadbent is not supposed to work as a physician until the criminal investigation against him is finished. It’s not clear whether he’s working in the fertility field in any other capacity, and his attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

  Mateer is one of 94 women who have filed a civil lawsuit against Broadbent and two of the hospitals where he delivered some of their babies. But in September 2022, a judge dismissed their case when he ruled that it fell under medical malpractice law instead of a civil sexual assault claim, which meant it had faced tighter filing deadlines. The women have appealed the ruling to the Utah Supreme Court, and have been waiting for seven months for its decision.

  Brooke Heath, another plaintiff in that lawsuit, said Tuesday that it’s been a frustrating journey for those who say Broadbent harmed them: Their lawsuit was dismissed. Other women who went to Provo police to report Broadbent say they faced delays, language issues and insensitive interview techniques. And after more than a year, prosecutors still haven’t decided whether they’ll charge Broadbent at all.

  (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brooke Heath, photographed at home, Jan. 11, 2023, alleges Dr. David Broadbent violated her in December 2008 while she was hospitalized after experiencing complications with her first pregnancy.

  So while Heath said seeing Broadbent’s name on that Utah Valley Magazine’s “Best Of” list was confusing and also felt to her like a “slap in the face,” she did appreciate that the publication responded quickly by removing his name from the online list after hearing from women who say they were abused.

  “I am really impressed with the strong women that we have in our case,” she said, “that are bold enough to express their concerns, even in spite of all the times we’ve been shut down. To say, ‘Enough is enough.’”

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  Utah County doctor sued by nearly 100 women faces first criminal charge
  Publisher: KSL
  Date: 27 Jun 2024
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article

  PROVO — A Utah County OB-GYN who was the subject of lawsuit filed on behalf of nearly 100 women who claimed they were abused by him is now facing his first criminal charge.

  David Harrison Broadbent, 77, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

  The charge is based on an alleged incident in July of 2020 when a woman went to Broadbent for an examination. After undressing from the waist down in the treatment room, Broadbent entered and lifted the woman's shirt and inappropriately grabbed her, according to charging documents.

  He then "grabbed (the woman's) leg in what felt to her as a sexual manner and pulled her to the edge of the table and began the examination," the charges state.

  The Utah County Attorney's Office issued a statement on Thursday saying that Broadbent remains under investigation, and the office "will make a determination whether additional charges will be filed against Dr. Broadbent when these investigations are completed."

  In 2022, 94 women filed a lawsuit against Broadbent claiming they were sexually assaulted while getting medical care from him and that he made insensitive, offensive and inappropriate remarks, performed unnecessary intimate exams, and used his hands to touch them in sensitive areas for his own gratification when not medically necessary.

  Broadbent surrendered his license to practice after the lawsuit was filed. But 4th District Judge Robert C. Lunnen dismissed the lawsuit three months later.

  The judge agreed the events described in the complaint were "appalling," and that Broadbent's treatment of patients was "insensitive, disrespectful and degrading" — but said his ruling was based on the law, not his reactions to the allegations in the lawsuit. He said the issues raised should be part of a medical malpractice suit so he did not have jurisdiction over the issues raised.

  In October, the women took their appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. As of Thursday, the state's high court had yet to issue a decision.

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  Utah OB-GYN David Broadbent charged with forcible sexual abuse for 2020 patient exam
  Publisher: Salt Lake Tribune
  Date: 27 Jun 2024
  Archive.org
  Source type: News article

  More than 100 women have publicly accused the Utah County doctor of touching them inappropriately, but this is the first time he has faced a criminal charge.

  Utah OB-GYN David Broadbent was charged Thursday with forcible sexual abuse, as prosecutors allege he sexually touched a patient during a 2020 exam.

  Broadbent has been accused in civil lawsuits of inappropriately touching more than 100 patients during exams — but this is the first time Utah County prosecutors have filed a criminal charge against him. He faces a second-degree felony, which carries a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

  Deputy Utah County Attorney Tim Taylor, who is a spokesperson for the office, said Thursday that police and prosecutors are continuing to investigate and are still considering whether to file additional charges against the OB-GYN.

  In charging records, prosecutors say one of Broadbent’s patients came to see him in 2020 regarding a bump in her vaginal area. Broadbent allegedly instructed the patient to undress from the waist down — but when he returned to the exam room after she changed, prosecutors say he lifted up her shirt and bra and touched her breasts. He then grabbed her leg “in what felt like a sexual manner,” prosecutors say, and began a vaginal examination.

  An attorney representing Broadbent in his civil litigation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No attorney is yet listed in his criminal case.

  At least 49 women have reported to Provo Police that Broadbent sexually abused them during exams, and prosecutors have been weighing whether to file charges for 18 months. Earlier this month, the county attorney’s office received funding to pay for a nurse practitioner who specializes in sexual assault exams to review the evidence that prosecutors have, and to do research and advise them on what the “standard of care” is for an OB-GYN appointment.

  Many of the women who reported to police allege Broadbent inappropriately touched their breasts, vaginas and rectums during exams — often without warning or explanation, and in ways that hurt them and made them feel violated. Other former patients, along with many of the women who went to police, have also sued Broadbent or the hospitals where he worked, with a total of nearly 120 women making sexual assault allegations in civil lawsuits.

  Broadbent has agreed to stop practicing medicine while this criminal investigation is ongoing. As part of a separate civil case, Broadbent’s attorneys have said sexual assault allegations against him are “without merit.”

  The woman whose report led to the criminal charge saw Broadbent in July 2020. A year and a half later, in December 2021, another former patient of Broadbent’s spoke out publicly on the podcast “Mormon Stories,” describing the painful way she said he had examined her years before and how it left her feeling traumatized.

  After the podcast aired, women started coming forward publicly in civil lawsuits accusing Broadbent of inappropriate touching.

  But in September 2022, a judge dismissed a case filed by 94 women when he ruled that it fell under medical malpractice law instead of a civil sexual assault claim, which meant it had faced — and missed — tighter filing deadlines. The women have appealed the ruling to the Utah Supreme Court, and have been waiting for seven months for its decision.