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	Delaware Courts: Bradley Law Likely to Produce More Suits By Cris Barrish The News Journal July 17, 2010 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100717/NEWS01/7170347/More-suits-likely-due-to-Bradley-law Sexual-abuse victims get their day in court The mother of a girl whom pediatrician Earl B. Bradley allegedly raped in 1999 waited years for the doctor to be charged with the crime. But for the last few months, she and her daughter were frustrated at being forbidden by law to join the growing number of the former doctor's alleged sexual-abuse victims who have sued Bradley and other medical authorities. Their wait is over. A new law signed last week by Gov. Jack Markell eliminated the statute of limitations on such claims and gives child patients until July 2012 to sue health care providers and their institutions for sexual abuse. The law is expected to trigger dozens more lawsuits against Bradley as well as Beebe Medical Center and the Medical Society of Delaware, institutions patients have accused of being negligent in investigating complaints about Bradley. While nine other bills Markell previously signed are designed to help Delaware stop abusive doctors in the future, the mother said "this will allow families that were victimized to have legal recourse. This to me was the one that counted." The News Journal does not identify sexual-assault victims or their families. State Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf, a Rehoboth Beach Democrat and former state trooper who counts many alleged victims' families among his constituents, said those who were harmed deserve to be compensated. "While we can't undo what has happened, we can make sure that these and any other victims who are sexually abused by a health care provider can seek legal action," Schwartzkopf, the House majority leader, said when Markell signed the legislation. The new law piggybacks on one that took effect July 9, 2007, and was designed primarily for people who claim they were abused by Catholic priests. That law, known as the Child Victim's Act, gave any victim of child sexual abuse two years to file a lawsuit, and resulted in 170 claims against mostly priests, but also a judge, teachers, Boy Scout leaders, neighbors and family members. Applying law to doctors The 2007 law did not apply to doctors, however, because laws dealing with health care providers are contained in a different part of the Delaware Code. So, when the Markell administration and lawmakers considered ways to improve Delaware's laws in response to News Journal revelations about previous Bradley investigations that failed to stop the alleged pedophile, officials decided to change the health care provider lawsuit statute as well. Bradley has been charged with raping or sexually abusing at least 102 girls and one boy -- at least 34 before the 2007 law took effect. Bradley allegedly made video recordings of hundreds of his attacks. Police who viewed them have said in court documents that he forced children as young as 3 months old to engage in intercourse and oral sex, and that some children were crying and screaming as they tried to escape. The new law allows those patients allegedly abused before July 9, 2007, by Bradley or any other doctor, nurse or health provider to file suit, and gives them two years to do so. Under the old law, patients had a two-year statute of limitations for abuse they knew about, and three years to file suit if the abuse was not known before the two-year limit. Any child under the age of 6 had until their sixth birthday to sue for abuse. Also under the new law, hospitals and other care agencies now can be sued if they "owed a duty of care" to the child and must pay damages if they committed "gross negligence." Chief Deputy Attorney General Charles E. Butler applauded the changes. "It's consistent with the policy expressed by the General Assembly with respect to the clergy cases," Butler said. "The General Assembly recognized that cases of child abuse are frequently not discovered until long after the fact." 25 lawsuits; more to come To date, 25 lawsuits have been filed against Bradley and Beebe, which hired Bradley in 1994. Two years later, Beebe officials investigated a nurse's claim that he conducted too many catheterizations of young girls, did inappropriate exams for labial adhesions, and kissed and hugged girls. Beebe claims it found no wrongdoing, but a state investigation found no records of the Lewes hospital's inquiry into Bradley. Bradley resigned as a hospital employee in 1998, but remained an on-call physician who treated patients there until his December arrest. In 2005, when Milford police investigated Bradley for improper kissing and inappropriate vaginal exams and the state subpoenaed any complaints about Bradley, the hospital did not provide them. Though Beebe officials have said the lawsuits could drive them to seek bankruptcy protection, they did not oppose the new law, nor did the Delaware Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals and other medical organizations. "We thought it was an appropriate piece of legislation and an appropriate response to what happened" in the Bradley case, said Lisa Schieffert, the group's health policy director. The Medical Society of Delaware, a trade association for more than 1,200 practicing Delaware physicians, is a defendant in 15 lawsuits by former Bradley patients. In addition, its former president, Dr. James P. Marvel Jr., and Dr. Carol A. Tavani, a psychiatrist who chairs a society committee that helps impaired physicians, each have been sued by more than a dozen former patients. Bradley's sister and former office manager, Lynda Barnes, wrote to the society in 2004 about Bradley's physical and emotional deterioration, including that he was taking drugs from patient samples and had been accused of improperly touching patients. The society has said that part of her two-page letter was cut off by a malfunctioning fax machine. Tavani said she never knew of the touching allegation, and Marvel later told police he didn't investigate the complaint by Barnes because it was a "family matter." The society would not comment on the new law because "of the pending litigation," said executive director Mark A. Meister Sr. Victims seek recompense Wilmington attorney Bruce L. Hudson, who has filed nearly 20 lawsuits on behalf of former Bradley patients and has about 30 other clients waiting to sue, said about 10 girls were allegedly abused before 2007. Some of those parents had complained to police that Bradley had conducted inappropriate vaginal exams during visits for ailments such as an ear infection or possible attention deficit disorder. "These people should not be denied now that they know he was actually molesting their children," Hudson said. "They should be entitled to recourse for their children and for themselves for their emotional anguish." Lewes attorney Chase T. Brockstedt, who has filed two patient lawsuits, agreed. "Given the breadth of the abuse and how far it potentially dates back, it was something that was necessary," he said. "If the law had not been changed and they had a legitimate claim, the harsh reality is that they were not going to be able to bring a claim." The mother of the girl allegedly abused in 1999 said she was in the room when her child, then 7, was getting an exam. The girl screamed, the mother said. The mother jumped up, put herself between Bradley and her child, and demanded to know what happened, she recalled. "He said, 'I'm checking to see if her hymen is intact. She's a new patient.' " The woman said she and her daughter, now 18, are not expecting to win major damages, but stressed that the law will serve as a warning to doctors and a harsh lesson for their overseers. "They can't just take a pass on doing their job," she said, "and not protect the people you are supposed to be protecting."
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