A mother and daughter filed a lawsuit June 25 against Bountiful, Utah-based Lakeview Hospital, alleging the hospital bears some responsibility for the daughter's sexual assault by an obstetrician-gynecologist, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Nathan Ward, MD, was arrested in 2017. He pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the girl and posting videos of the assault online. Federal and state judges sentenced him in 2018 to a combined 37 years in prison.
The lawsuit alleges Ward took drugs from the hospital and used them to assault the girl over a period of six years, starting when she was 11. Hospital officials allegedly knew some employees were illegally obtaining drugs meant for patients but only launched a "limited investigation." The mother and daughter say a more thorough review would have uncovered Dr. Ward's activities.
Lakeview Hospital fired Ward immediately upon learning he was accused of sexual abuse in 2017 and "fully assisted" law enforcement in its subsequent investigation, the hospital said in a statement.