Yes, a patient sexually abused by a doctor, therapist, or other medical provider in California can bring a civil lawsuit for money damages. For adult sexual assault, the deadline is generally 10 years from the last act or 3 years from discovering the resulting injury, whichever is later. A Medical Board complaint is a separate process with separate outcomes.
If a doctor, therapist, or other medical provider in California sexually abused you, you may be able to bring a civil lawsuit for money damages against that provider. In some cases you may also be able to sue the clinic, hospital, or medical group that employed them. That lawsuit is separate from any criminal case and from any Medical Board complaint.
Many patients do not recognize misconduct as misconduct until long afterward, because the setting was supposed to be clinical and the provider was supposed to be trusted. California law anticipates that. This article explains what a claim is, which statutes apply, how the deadlines work, what the Medical Board does, and where support is available.
What a Medical Practice Sexual Abuse Claim Is Under California Law
A medical practice sexual abuse claim is a civil claim: a lawsuit the survivor brings in a California civil court to seek monetary compensation. The survivor, not a prosecutor, decides whether to file it and how it proceeds.
Sexual misconduct by a licensed provider can lead to three independent tracks:
- A civil lawsuit, brought by the survivor, seeking compensation.
- A licensing complaint, made to the Medical Board of California or another licensing board, which can discipline the provider's license.
- A criminal report, made to law enforcement, which can lead to prosecution.
Each runs on its own. Starting one does not require starting the others, and the outcome of one does not decide the others. The differences are covered in more detail in our page on civil vs. criminal cases.
The conduct involved can include examinations of intimate areas that had no medical purpose, touching during a procedure that the patient did not agree to, sexual comments or pressure, and overt assault. The providers involved can include physicians, surgeons, therapists, chiropractors, nurse practitioners, and others in a position of clinical trust.
The medical setting matters legally because of the relationship. A patient is often undressed, sedated, in pain, or dependent on the provider's judgment. Civil claims in this setting are commonly built on battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress (conduct so extreme that it causes serious emotional harm), and civil rights theories.
California Statutes That Govern These Claims
Cal. Civ. Code § 1708.5 creates a civil claim for sexual battery. In plain terms, sexual battery is acting with intent to cause a harmful or offensive contact with an intimate part of another person, where a sexually offensive contact results. The statute defines "offensive contact" as "contact that offends a reasonable sense of personal dignity." It states that a person who commits sexual battery "is liable to that person for damages, including, but not limited to, general damages, special damages, and punitive damages." A court may also award an injunction and other relief.
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 729 addresses the provider-patient relationship directly. It covers physicians and surgeons, psychotherapists, research psychoanalysts, student research psychoanalysts, and alcohol and drug abuse counselors, including anyone holding themselves out as one. A covered provider who engages in sexual contact with a patient or client commits "sexual exploitation," which the statute makes a public offense (a crime). The same rule reaches some former patients, where the professional relationship was ended mainly so that sexual contact could occur. The offense is defined by the relationship. Nothing in its terms turns on whether the patient appeared to agree. Although § 729 is a criminal statute, it shows how seriously California treats this conduct.
Cal. Civ. Code § 51, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all persons, regardless of sex and other listed characteristics, "are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever." A medical practice that provides services to the public may be a business establishment. Depending on the facts, civil rights theories can sit alongside a battery or negligence claim.
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 2220 and the sections that follow give the Medical Board of California power to enforce the rules governing physicians, including investigating "complaints from the public."
Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.16 sets the filing deadline for adult sexual assault claims.
How Long a Survivor Has to File: California's Statute of Limitations
A statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. For sexual assault that happened when the survivor was 18 or older, § 340.16 sets the deadline as the later of two dates. The current periods trace to a 2019 amendment, AB 1619.
The statute gives the survivor:
"(1) Within 10 years from the date of the last act, attempted act, or assault with the intent to commit an act, of sexual assault against the plaintiff. (2) Within three years from the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that an injury or illness resulted from an act, attempted act, or assault with the intent to commit an act, of sexual assault against the plaintiff."
The second date is the discovery rule: the clock can start when the survivor discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, that an injury or illness resulted from the assault, not on the date of the assault. Many people connect later harm to what happened only years afterward.
The statute also states that no criminal prosecution is needed. A civil claim can proceed whether or not charges were ever brought, and whether or not any prosecution ended in a conviction.
A revival window is currently open for some older adult claims. Under § 340.16(b)(3), a claim based on conduct on or after January 1, 2009, that would otherwise be barred only because the deadline expired is revived and may be filed until December 31, 2026. The window does not revive a claim already litigated to finality, or settled in a written agreement, before January 1, 2023. California's other, earlier revival windows for specific campus physicians have closed.
Abuse that happened before age 18 is governed by a different statute. For childhood abuse that occurred on or before December 31, 2023, the deadline is generally age 40, or five years from discovery, whichever is later. For abuse on or after January 1, 2024, California has no time limit. A medical provider who abused a child falls under these rules, not § 340.16.
Claims involving a government-employed provider can have an extra step. Under Cal. Gov. Code § 945.4, a suit for money damages generally cannot be brought against a public entity, such as a county hospital, until a written claim has been presented to that entity and acted on or rejected. That presentation deadline is short, measured in months rather than years. Childhood abuse claims are treated differently: claims against a local public entity are exempt from the presentation requirement, and claims against the State are exempt for conduct on or after January 1, 2024.
These rules are fact-specific. Our page on the California statute of limitations covers the deadlines in more depth.