Patients Reveal Horror Stories About 'Abusive' Utah OBGYN

[Jilly_in_VA]

Jane Doe S.P. was a 19-year-old college student and newly engaged in 2008 when she booked an appointment for a “premarital exam.” Such visits are unique to heavily Mormon Utah, can be similar to a first annual gynecology checkup, and are meant to establish a relationship with an OB-GYN before marriage and having sex for the first time.

“I had heard that women go to the doctor before they get married and get birth control,” Jane, who is identified in the lawsuit as ‘Jane Doe S.P.,’ told The Daily Beast in an interview. “I don’t think I knew what to expect.” Jane decided to see Dr. David H. Broadbent, a gynecologist within walking distance of her Provo apartment complex and whose office accepted her parents’ insurance.

But she claims nothing could prepare her for what she experienced in his office: unexpected, painful, and medically unnecessary breast, vaginal, and rectal exams. Jane is one of at least 83 people to accuse Broadbent of conducting these exams—without consent, and sometimes even after women told him they didn’t want them—allegedly for his own sexual gratification.

According to two recently filed lawsuits, Broadbent’s alleged sexual abuse spanned four decades, and some of the women were as young as 14 when he allegedly assaulted them.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/patients-reveal-horror-stories-about-utah-obgyn-david-broadbent-who-allegedly-abused-more-than-80-women?ref=home

[ShazzieB]

1. This case is eerily similar to another one I read about.

The book: "Doc": The Rape of the Town of Lovell by Jack Olsen, tells the story of Dr. John Story, who sexually abused women in the small town of Lovell, Wyoming for over 25 years, under the guise of performing pelvic exams.

As in this Daily Beast story, the town where he practiced was heavily Mormon, and most of his patients were sexually inexperienced and not well-informed as to what was appropriate to expect in a gynecological exam when they first came to him. And like the women in this news story, a lot of them were uncomfortable with some of the things that happened in his examining room but weren't sure if he'd actually done something wrong or if they were just overreacting. Like I said, eerily similar!

Story was not stopped and prosecuted until 1985, after a few woman started comparing notes with each other and putting two and two together. The book tells the whole story through the eyes of the women involved, and it is very well done. It's one of my favorite true crime books of all time, and I've read quite a few.

Olsen's book was published back in 1989, and went out of print for a while, but was reprinted in a paperback edition in 2014, which is currently available from Amazon. It's a creepy story about a very creepy man and definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I personally found it fascinating and riveting.

Both that story and this new one point to the dangers of keeping women naive and uninformed about matters related to sex and what is and is not okay for a doctor to do to a woman's body.

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. Why I refuse to have a male GYN

Never, ever again.