Sexual Abuse
This page is about sexual assault lawsuits against Dr. Fabio Ortega and NorthShore University Health System.
Dr. Fabio Ortega was a well-known OB/GYN in the Chicago suburbs for many years, treating thousands of women and delivering countless babies. Recently, however, Dr. Ortega has been criminally convicted of sexually assaulting many of his female patients. Former patients whom Dr. Ortega victimized are now filing civil lawsuits against him and against his former employer, NorthShore University Health System.
Why is NorthShore to blame? Our sexual assault lawyers dive into that below. But the short answer is they looked the other way even after there was ample evidence that Dr. Ortega was a predator.
Dr. Ortega
Dr. Ortega was a well-known OB/GYN in the suburbs of Chicago for nearly 40 years. Dr. Ortega obtained his medical degree from the University of Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. He was first licensed to practice medicine in Illinois in 1982.
In 2018, Dr. Ortega faced legal troubles as he was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault involving a patient. Around the same time, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended Dr. Ortega’s medical license due to sexual misconduct with a patient.
In 2021, Dr. Ortega pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault charges related to two separate female patients, incidents that occurred in 2016 and 2017. The victims claimed the assaults took place during OB exams, citing highly inappropriate questions and inappropriate touching by Dr. Ortega. Depressingly, he only went to jail for one year and is out now.
These criminal charges prompted other former patients to come forward, revealing they, too, had been victimized. Subsequently, a surge in civil sexual abuse lawsuits emerged against Dr. Ortega, with his employer, NorthShore Health System, also named as a defendant in these legal actions.
NorthShore Ignores Evidence of Sexual Misconduct by Dr. Ortega
NorthShore is a major non-profit corporation that provides healthcare services through four hospitals, 130 locations, and a large physician practice group with nearly 1,000 doctors. In 2004, NorthShore hired Dr. Ortega to provide OB/GYN services.
NorthShore Got Complaints and… Did Nothing
Throughout Dr. Ortega’s 14-year employment at NorthShore, NorthShore Throughout Ortega’s 14-year period of employment at NorthShore, NorthShore received complaints that Ortega was exploiting his doctor-patient relationship with its female patients by engaging in both overt and subtle acts of sexual misconduct and abuse under the guise of performing medically proper care. Regardless of the initial purpose of the examination, NorthShore knew that Ortega was also using a broad range of techniques, without a medical need or purpose, for his sexual gratification.
NorthShore is also taking advantage of the fact that allegations of patient abuse occurring in settings other than hospitals, like clinics, do not fall under mandatory state reporting requirements. This loophole, alongside delays in disciplinary actions by the state licensing agency, has allowed some health care professionals accused of sexual misconduct to continue practicing for extended periods. Illinois state legislators have taken notice and acknowledged these legislative shortcomings. They are in the process of drafting laws to close these identified gaps.
Ortega’s Abuse Was Just Awful
Dr. Ortega’s acts of sexual misconduct with patients included things such as performing unnecessary breast, vaginal and rectal examinations; prescribing “Kegel” exercises as a pretense for inserting his fingers into patient’s vaginas; inserting his fingers into patient’s vaginas under the pretense of showing them how to locate their “g-spot” without any medical purpose; and touching to the point of causing, or attempting to cause, sexual arousal and stimulation (nipple touching, inner-thigh rubbing, touching of the clitoris, and stroking the inner walls of the vagina).
The lawsuits allege that NorthShore regularly received complaints from female patients about sexual misconduct by Dr. Ortega and did nothing about it. Year after year, NorthShore dismissed and covered up complaints about Ortega, allowed him to continue work with unfettered access to its female patients, and then, to add insult to injury, billed them for his abuses masked as medically necessary care.
In 2017, NorthShore learned that Ortega was under criminal investigation for sexually assaulting a patient. In response, rather than provide the police with requested information and interviews, NorthShore allegedly began a separate investigation with its own lawyers and executive officers while excluding police participation.
During this time, Ortega continued to work. Eventually, six months after the criminal investigation began, NorthShore allowed police to question Ortega in the presence of a NorthShore attorney. Even though Ortega lied to the police, NorthShore still allowed him to continue to work and commit additional sexual assaults disguised as medically necessary exams while financially profiting from his exploitations. The plot reads like a movie of the week where you would think the hospital could be so stupid and uncaring in real life.
Sexual Assault Lawsuits Against Dr. Ortega and NorthShore
Victims of Dr. Ortega are now coming forward and filing civil lawsuits against NorthShore for negligently failing to protect them and enabling Dr. Ortega to continue his abuse. Over a dozen civil lawsuits have already been filed against NorthShore and Swedish Hospital (another former employer of Dr. Ortega), and a group of them have been consolidated into a single action. Some of the sexual abuse lawsuits involving Dr. Ortega have already been settled.
Under Illinois law, victims of sexual abuse or assault have the right to initiate a civil lawsuit and pursue financial compensation. Victims can bring a sexual abuse lawsuit in Illinois irrespective of whether criminal charges were filed in connection to the abuse. Notably, survivors retain the right to bring a civil lawsuit even if they never reported or disclosed the abuse to anyone at the time it occurred.
Potential Settlement Value of Dr. Ortega Sex Abuse Lawsuits
Numerous sexual abuse lawsuits against Dr. Ortega and his former employers have been resolved through settlements. Cases involving sexual misconduct by physicians typically command substantial settlement amounts. Drawing from previous settlements in Dr. Ortega’s cases and similar instances of doctor sexual abuse, our legal team estimates that individual cases could potentially yield settlement payouts in the millions.
Normally, in cases like this, our sexual assault attorneys will say compensation payouts should range between $1 million to $3 million. They could be a lot higher here. The hospital’s conduct in letting this go in was so awful… a jury will not like it. If NorthShore has smart lawyers, they will never let a jury hear one of these cases but pay whatever they have to make these claims disappear.
The heightened settlement values in lawsuits against Dr. Ortega stem partly from the involvement of his former employers, NorthShore and Swedish Hospital, as defendants. Hospitals often opt for settlements in such cases to mitigate damage to their reputation, and they are willing to invest significantly in doing so.
Contact Us About a Dr. Ortega Sex Abuse Lawsuit
Our sex abuse lawyers are representing victims of Dr. Ortega in civil lawsuits against his former employers. If you were subjected to sexual abuse by Dr. Ortega, contact our attorneys today for a free case evaluation. We can help you. Call us at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.