Utah
Victim speaks out after Utah Supreme Court revives sex assault lawsuit against Provo OB-GYN
PROVO, Utah — One day after the Utah Supreme Court revived the sexual assault lawsuit against a Provo OB-GYN and two healthcare systems, one of the alleged victims is elated to share that their fight is not over.
Back in 2008, Brooke Heath was rushed to Utah Valley Hospital in premature labor. That’s where she said she met Dr. David Broadbent.
“I didn’t ask to go to him, that was the doctor on duty and he was assigned to me,” Heath said.
She’s one of the 94 women who filed a lawsuit against Dr. Broadbent, Intermountain Healthcare and MountainStar Health Care. The women accused Dr. Broadbent of sexually assaulting them during medical exams over decades.
Some of the plaintiffs claimed the abuse happened before and after giving birth. Others, as young as nineteen, claimed “it was her first appointment with a doctor other than her pediatrician” and “did not know what to expect or what was normal.”
“It’s pretty powerful to hear story after story after story that’s told to you independently that has a pattern to it,” said Terry Rooney, one of the attorneys representing the women.
A lower court judge previously dismissed the women’s lawsuit, ruling that it should have been filed as a medical malpractice case instead of a civil sexual assault lawsuit. That would have limited the window of time they could sue and limit any financial damages they could receive.
In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the state’s top court reversed a lower court’s decision to throw out their lawsuit.
“We’re actually going to have more than 94 [women] when it gets refiled. The number is uncertain yet but it could be approaching 200 women when it gets refiled,” said Rooney.
In the Utah Supreme Court’s ruling, Justice Petersen said “we conclude that the Malpractice Act does not apply to the Plaintiffs’ claims because they have not brought an action ‘based upon alleged personal injuries relating to or arising out of health care rendered’ by Broadbent.”
“It’s important to note that there are three defendants in this case,” said Heath. “Our goal is to hold them all accountable for their actions and lack thereof.”
MountainStar Healthcare wrote, “We continue to offer our sympathy and support to any individuals who may have experienced this alleged behavior at the physician’s private clinic in Provo.”
“To our knowledge, there were no allegations of inappropriate conduct reported to our facility regarding this physician, and as such our position since this lawsuit was filed has been that we were inappropriately named in the suit. This physician is not and was not employed by Timpanogos Regional Hospital and is not currently authorized to see patients at our facility,” the statement said.
Utah Valley Hospital also sent a statement, saying, “Dr. Broadbent is an independent physician and has never been an employee of Utah Valley Hospital.”
The statement also said that when “the hospital learned of this lawsuit, Dr. Broadbent’s hospital staff privileges were immediately suspended and then terminated.”
Dr. Broadbent, through his previous attorney, has denied wrongdoing. State officials said he has, however, agreed to stop practicing medicine while the case plays out in the court system.
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
-
Politics6 minutes agoTrump escalates election attacks, threatens California over voter data
-
Science12 minutes agoRudolph Marcus, Caltech chemist who won Nobel Prize, dies at 102
-
Sports18 minutes agoCommentary: With Will Smith out indefinitely, Dodgers need to trade for a catcher
-
World30 minutes agoMandela Day: What his legacy means in today’s South Africa
-
News60 minutes agoICE shared Medicaid data it wasn’t supposed to have with Palantir
-
Los Angeles, Ca3 hours ago‘Moana’ is a triumph for Pacific Islander representation on the big screen
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoFive shot during funeral at Detroit church
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoSan Francisco Giants Announce Intriguing Roster Move Ahead of Mariners Series