For nearly nine months, former Indiana University men’s basketball players have been embroiled in a class action lawsuit with the university regarding their treatment by team doctor Brad Bomba Sr. This week, the university’s independent law firm released its investigative findings, which included a key letter.
According to the Indiana Daily Student News, IU athletic director Scott Dolson received a letter signed by 14 local physicians in support of the former doctor, claiming the student-athletes’ experiences were simply the “standard of care” during the era.
In a series of emails obtained by the IDS, Dolson received the letter in December 2024 and allowed it to be passed on to Jones Day, the university’s independent law firm investigating the abuse allegations. The letter then made its way through several other people in the Indiana Athletic Department, including former men’s basketball team athletic trainer, Tim Garl – who is now named in the lawsuit – and the wives of some staff.
Related: Ex-Basketball Players Sue Indiana University, as Third Emerges With Abuse Allegations
A portion of that letter read, “Based on decades of medical collaboration with Dr. Bomba, we collectively agree that Dr. Bomba’s patient management has been well within the standard of care and allegations to the contrary are not based on personal or medical evidence.”
The final investigative report from Jones Day said, “We also uncovered no evidence to suggest that Dr. Bomba obtained sexual gratification in completing DREs or that there was any sexual connotation to his examinations of student athletes,” the report said. “Rather, the evidence did not lead us to conclude that Dr. Bomba acted in bad faith or with an improper purpose when performing DREs while conducting thorough and complete PPEs of a college-age student-athletes.”
The release of the report does not mean the end of the class action lawsuit, but it will now be used as evidence in the case. The physicians who wrote and signed the letter confirmed that they stand by their support of Dr. Bomba.
