Chicago Doctor Sexual Abuse Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been sexually abused by a doctor, Levin & Perconti is prepared to help you pursue justice with compassion and determination. Our attorneys have extensive experience holding healthcare providers and institutions accountable, conducting thorough investigations, and fighting for the compensation survivors deserve. With a proven record of advocating for abuse victims, we are committed to protecting your rights and helping you move forward.
Quick Facts About Levin & Perconti
- Levin & Perconti represents survivors of sexual abuse by physicians, surgeons, OB-GYNs, psychiatrists, chiropractors, and other medical professionals
- Our attorneys handle these cases discreetly, with an emphasis on protecting your privacy and your emotional well-being throughout the process
- We work with medical experts, licensing boards, and law enforcement records to build the strongest possible case on your behalf
- Levin & Perconti handles doctor sexual abuse cases on a contingency-fee basis; you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911
If you need to talk to someone about sexual abuse, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673 (RAINN), or online at rainn.org. You do not have to go through this alone, and reaching out for support does not commit you to any legal action.
Why Choose the Chicago Sexual Abuse Lawyers of Levin & Perconti
Cases involving sexual abuse by a doctor are legally and emotionally complex. They often involve overlapping claims against the individual doctor, the hospital or practice that employed him or her, and sometimes a licensing board that failed to act on prior complaints. The sexual abuse lawyers at Levin & Perconti understand how to investigate these cases sensitively and thoroughly, and how to pursue every party whose negligence or misconduct allowed the abuse to happen.
We know that coming forward is difficult. Our team is committed to treating every client with dignity, keeping you informed at each stage of your case, and working to secure the compensation and accountability that can help you move forward.
What Makes These Cases Different From Other Malpractice Claims
Most medical malpractice cases turn on negligence, a provider failing to meet the accepted standard of care. Doctor sexual abuse cases are different because they typically involve intentional misconduct, not an honest mistake or a lapse in judgment. That distinction changes the entire legal strategy.
- Different legal theories: Alongside any malpractice claim, your case may involve civil claims for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, claims that don’t require proving the provider deviated from a medical standard of care, only that the conduct was non-consensual and harmful.
- Multiple potentially liable parties: Beyond the doctor, a hospital, surgical center, or private practice can be independently liable if it knew or should have known about the risk the provider posed and failed to act.
- Different evidence: These cases often rely less on expert medical testimony about clinical decision-making and more on employment records, prior complaints, licensing board files, criminal investigation materials, and corroborating witness accounts.
- Different timelines: Many states apply separate, often longer, statutes of limitations to sexual abuse claims than to standard medical malpractice claims, recognizing that survivors frequently need more time to come forward.
- Different stakes for the client: These cases carry a psychological dimension that ordinary malpractice claims don’t. The legal process has to be handled in a way that doesn’t compound the harm already done.
How Doctor Sexual Abuse Lawyers Investigates These Types of Cases
Because doctor sexual abuse cases hinge on proving what the provider did and what the facility knew, a thorough investigation is critical. When you work with our doctor sexual abuse lawyers, we typically:
- Document your account: We start by carefully and sensitively gathering your account of what happened, on your timeline and in a setting where you feel safe.
- Request and review medical and employment records: We obtain your treatment records, the provider’s employment and credentialing file, and any internal complaints or disciplinary history the facility may have on file.
- Pull licensing board history: We check state medical board records for prior complaints, investigations, or disciplinary actions against the provider that may show a pattern.
- Coordinate with law enforcement, where applicable: If a criminal investigation or prosecution is underway, we work alongside, not against, that process, and can help you understand how the civil and criminal tracks interact.
- Identify other potential survivors: Serial misconduct is unfortunately common in these cases. Where appropriate, we investigate whether other patients have come forward or may have relevant information, always in a way that protects everyone’s privacy and does not pressure anyone to participate.
- Consult medical and standard-of-care experts: We work with experts who can speak to what constitutes an appropriate clinical exam or procedure, and where a provider’s conduct crossed that line.
- Build the liability case against every responsible party: We assess whether the hospital, clinic, staffing agency, or credentialing body bears independent responsibility, not just the individual provider.
What Steps Should I Take If a Doctor Sexually Abused Me?
If you were sexually abused by a doctor, nurse, or other medical provider, consider taking the following steps to protect yourself and preserve your legal options:
- Get to a safe place and seek medical attention if you need it, even if you’re unsure whether you want to pursue legal action.
- Report the abuse to the facility, the state medical board, and, if you choose to, local law enforcement.
- Write down what happened as soon as you’re able, including dates, locations, and anyone who may have witnessed anything.
- Preserve any evidence, such as appointment records, billing statements, text messages, or emails connected to your care.
- Speak with a doctor sexual abuse lawyer before speaking further with the provider’s insurer or legal representatives.
How a Doctor Sexual Abuse Lawyer Proves Your Claim
Doctor sexual abuse claims can involve several legal theories depending on the facts of your case, including sexual assault and battery claims against the doctor personally, negligent hiring or supervision claims against the hospital or practice, and, in some cases, claims against a licensing board or credentialing body.
To build a strong claim, your attorney will typically need to establish:
- That a provider-patient relationship existed, creating a duty of care and professional responsibility
- That the doctor engaged in sexual contact, comments, or conduct that violated that duty and exceeded the bounds of appropriate medical care
- That the abuse caused you physical, emotional, or psychological harm
- In claims against a hospital or practice, that the facility knew or should have known about prior complaints, red flags, or misconduct and failed to act.
Your attorney may work with medical experts, review prior complaints or disciplinary records, and coordinate with investigators to gather the evidence needed to support your claim.
Doctor Sexual Abuse Cases by Provider Type
Sexual abuse in a medical setting can happen in any specialty, but certain fact patterns come up often enough that they shape how a case is investigated and proven. Our attorneys handle claims involving:
OB-GYNs and Reproductive Health Providers
Because OB-GYN care inherently involves intimate physical exams, abuse by these providers can be especially difficult for patients to recognize or report in the moment. Cases often involve exams performed without proper consent, without a chaperone present, or that go beyond what was medically necessary or disclosed to the patient beforehand.
Anesthesiologists and Sedation-Related Abuse
Patients under sedation or general anesthesia are uniquely vulnerable, since they cannot consent to conduct occurring while unconscious and often have no memory of it. These cases frequently rely on operating room staffing records, monitoring equipment logs, and witness accounts from other medical staff present during the procedure.
Psychiatrists and Therapists
Mental health providers occupy a position of significant trust and influence over patients who are often in a vulnerable emotional state. Abuse in this context can include a provider exploiting the therapeutic relationship, blurring professional boundaries, or engaging in a relationship with a patient, conduct that virtually every state’s licensing rules and professional ethics codes explicitly prohibit regardless of “consent.”
Chiropractors and Physical Therapists
These cases often involve hands-on treatment that provided cover for inappropriate touching under the guise of a legitimate technique, particularly where a provider treated sensitive areas of the body without adequate explanation or consent
Primary Care Physicians and Specialists
Abuse can also occur during routine exams, particularly involving unnecessary breast, genital, or rectal exams, or exams performed without gloves, without a chaperone, or without a clear clinical explanation for why they were necessary.
If your situation doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a claim. Contact us to discuss the specifics of what happened.
Doctor Sexual Abuse Cases by Provider Type
Illinois has some of the most survivor-friendly civil deadlines in the country, but which rule applies to your case depends heavily on your age at the time of the abuse and when the abuse occurred. Broadly:
- Abuse that occurred while you were a minor, on or after January 1, 2014. Illinois eliminated the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims filed after this date, meaning there is generally no deadline to file, regardless of how much time has passed.
- Abuse that occurred while you were a minor, before January 1, 2014. If your claim wasn’t already time-barred when the law changed, you generally have until your 38th birthday, or within 20 years of discovering that your injuries were caused by the abuse, whichever is later.
- Abuse that occurred while you were an adult. Illinois generally applies a two-year deadline from the date of the abuse, or from when you discovered the injury and its connection to the abuse. However, if the doctor is convicted of certain serious sex offenses, such as aggravated or predatory criminal sexual assault, Illinois imposes no civil filing deadline at all.
- Claims against a hospital or facility. Negligence-based claims against a hospital, clinic, or practice for negligent hiring, supervision, or retention of the abusive provider are often covered under the same abuse-based deadlines described above, but the analysis can differ depending on how the claim is framed; this is exactly the kind of issue an attorney needs to evaluate case by case.
- Wrongful death. If a survivor has passed away, Illinois generally requires a wrongful death claim to be filed within two years of the death.
Because Illinois’ sexual abuse statutes have changed multiple times over the past two decades and the correct deadline depends on the specific facts of your case, it’s important to speak with a Chicago doctor sexual abuse lawyer as soon as possible rather than assume your claim is time-barred.
Compensation Available in a Doctor Sexual Abuse Case
Survivors of doctor sexual abuse may be entitled to recover both economic and non-economic damages, depending on the facts of the case. A doctor sexual abuse lawyer can help you understand what may be available to you, which can include:
- Costs of therapy and mental health treatment
- Medical expenses related to the abuse
- Lost wages or lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- In some cases, punitive damages against the provider or facility
Support Resources for Survivors
You are not alone. These organizations offer confidential support:
- RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): 24/7 National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center: education and local resource directories
- SAMHSA National Helpline: free, confidential support for mental health and substance use: 1-800-662-4357
- Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR): file a complaint against a licensed physician or check a provider’s disciplinary history
Frequently Asked Questions About Doctor Sexual Abuse Claims
Can I sue a doctor for sexual abuse?
Yes. If a doctor engaged in unwanted sexual contact, comments, or conduct during the course of your care, you may be able to file a civil lawsuit against the doctor, and potentially the hospital, clinic, or practice that employed or credentialed them, separate from any criminal case.
Do I have to report the abuse to the police to file a civil lawsuit?
No. A civil lawsuit is separate from any criminal case and does not require a criminal conviction, or even a criminal report, to move forward. Many survivors choose to pursue a civil claim without ever filing a police report, though reporting can sometimes strengthen the evidence available in your case.
Can I sue the hospital or practice, not just the doctor?
In many cases, yes. If a hospital, clinic, or practice knew or should have known about a provider’s history of misconduct, through prior complaints, disciplinary actions, or red flags, and failed to act, the facility itself may be liable for negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.
Will my case be kept confidential?
Your attorney can explain the options available to protect your privacy, which may include filing under a pseudonym (such as “Jane Doe” or “John Doe”).
Legally Reviewed by
Bonamarte, IV
Read Bio
Since 2005, Michael Bonamarte IV has been a passionate advocate for victims of negligent conduct, corporate malfeasance, and medical malpractice. He has won numerous awards and recognitions, including Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers’ Rising Star. He has presented for the American Association for Justice, the AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group, the John Marshall Law School, and numerous other legal associations. He regularly lectures at Chicago-area aging organizations about nursing home abuse. His writings have been published by the American Bar Association, the Chicago Daily Bulletin, and numerous other prestigious publications.
Talk to Our Trusted Doctor Sexual Abuse Lawyers Today
If you or a loved one has been sexually abused by a doctor, our team is ready to help protect your rights and pursue the justice you deserve. Contact us online or call 312-667-4033 today to schedule a free consultation with our experienced Chicago doctor sexual abuse lawyers.
