PROVO, Utah — An OBGYN accused of abusing patients appeared in court Tuesday for the start of a preliminary hearing.

Dr. David Broadbent is facing numerous felony charges accusing him of sexually abusing patients during his lengthy career. He has denied wrongdoing.

Court records reviewed by FOX 13 News also show that nearly 450 women have filed civil lawsuits against him, accusing him of misconduct.

"I think the scary thing is that it’s probably larger than that," said Larissa DeGraaff, a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. "Not in the hundreds, maybe thousands."

The litigation against Dr. Broadbent was bolstered by a Utah Supreme Court ruling last year . At the time, 94 women had asked the state's top court to revive a lawsuit they filed against Dr. Broadbent , Intermountain Healt

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