Two St. Louis-area attorneys have filed suit against SSM Health on behalf of 30 people who claim a St. Louis County pediatrician sexually assaulted them.
The suit, filed Thursday in St. Louis County Circuit Court by attorneys Kayla Onder and Ben Crump, alleges Dr. Craig Spiegel sexually abused people, including minors, while he worked on the premises of SSM Health DePaul Hospital.
The suit claims both SSM and the company that leased the buildings, Delaware-based LRHET, failed to protect visitors to the property from harm and ignored warnings that the doctor was a threat.
LRHET is a subsidiary of Ventas Inc., which owns and manages medical buildings.
“Dr. Spiegel was abusing women and children under the guise of medical treatment. SSM was aware, and they did nothing,” Onder said during a press conference Thursday. “The 30 brave people we represent were not only victimized by someone they should have been able to trust their doctor, but by institutional indifference.”
The lawsuit lists more than two dozen cases in which Spiegel fondled victims’ genitals and breasts or forced them to engage in sex acts.
An SSM Health spokeswoman said Spiegel leased space in a medical building near the hospital from a third party, but the system never employed him.
“As an organization dedicated to the safety and well-being of our patients and team members, we are deeply saddened by the unfound allegations directed towards SSM Health,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Sharpe-Taylor wrote in a statement. “True to our mission and values, we value every person and are committed to delivering compassionate care to all.”
The suit also lists LHRET and Spiegel as defendants. It seeks monetary damages for the victims.
According to the lawsuit, SSM owns the land in Bridgeton on which SSM Health DePaul Hospital and several medical buildings are built. LHRET leases the buildings, including the one where Spiegel worked.
As owners and leasers of the property, the two businesses had a duty to provide security, protect patients and warn them about threats, the suit alleges.
The two businesses failed to listen or respond to complaints of violence, aggression, assault and sexual assault on their premises, the lawyers allege in the suit.
“Many of the people who were preyed upon by Dr. Spiegel were poor people, poor people of color,” Crump said. “It’s a known fact that sexual assault is often masked by the race of the victim, sometimes by the ZIP code where the victim lives [and] the financial resources of the victim.”
A former patient who is a plaintiff in the suit said she wants other assault survivors to know they’re not alone.
“What you endured is important and shouldn't be brushed under the rug,” said the woman, who did not provide her name. “Abusers should be held accountable for their actions, and it starts with us.”
The woman said that the experience had shaken her trust in medical professionals.
“He changed the way I looked at health care, at doctors,” she said. “It was a fine line between what was allowable and what was too much. So I definitely am cautious about my providers and who I choose to see and who I run to for help.”
Federal authorities in March indicted Spiegel on charges of prescribing controlled substances in exchange for sex acts.
Three other lawsuits claiming Spiegel sexually abused patients have been filed this year in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
