‘They knew, and did nothing’ - Former patients of Fabio Ortega say Endeavor Health failed to protect them from an abusive doctor

Editor’s note: This story includes descriptions of sexual abuse.

... At Victoria’s appointment, she contends in her lawsuit, the doctor touched her thigh without medical gloves, joked about her boyfriend’s penis size and tried to stimulate her while stating he was touching her “G spot.” She left the appointment in tears, she told the Tribune.

Tamara Holder, an attorney who is representing nearly all of the women who have sued Ortega, Endeavor and Swedish, said an additional 123 of Ortega’s former patients have retained her and her co-counsels, Johanna Raimond and Stephan Blandin, to represent them.

Ortega pleaded guilty in October 2021 to sexually abusing two former patients, including the woman whose husband called the Skokie medical office, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Read more reporting on Ortega, and the failure to protect patients like our clients, from Lisa Schecnker and Emily Hoerner in the Chicago Tribune.