Doctor loses license in live abortion case

[cynical_as_hell]

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A doctor's license was revoked Friday in the case of a teenager who planned to have an abortion but instead gave birth to a baby she says was killed when clinic staffers put it into a plastic bag and threw it in the trash.

The doctor, Pierre Jean-Jacques Renelique, was not present when the baby was born, but the Florida Medical Board upheld Department of Health allegations that he falsified medical records, inappropriately delegated tasks to unlicensed personnel and committed malpractice.

Joseph Harrison, the attorney representing Renelique at the license revocation hearing in Tampa, said Renelique has not decided whether to appeal.

The state attorney's office, meanwhile, said its criminal investigation into the incident is ongoing and no charges have been filed. A fetus born alive cannot be put to death even if its mother intended to have an abortion, police said when the incident occurred in 2006.

The baby's mother, Sycloria Williams, sued Renelique, the clinic and its staff in January, seeking damages.

She alleges in her suit that "she witnessed the murder of her daughter" and said she "sustained severe emotional distress, shock and psychic trauma which have resulted in discernible bodily injury."

"This is not about a pot of gold," said Tom Pennekamp, her attorney. "What this is about is right and wrong and making a statement, making sure it doesn't happen to other young women."

According to the suit, Williams, then 18, discovered while being treated for a fall that she was 23 weeks pregnant. She went to a clinic to get an abortion on the morning of July 20, 2006, after receiving medication and instructions the previous day.

Renelique was not at the clinic, however, and Williams was told to wait for him. She was given two pills and told they would make her ill. When she complained of feeling ill, clinic staff members gave her a robe and told her to lie down in a patient room, the suit says.

Renelique was still not present when Williams "felt a large pain" and delivered a baby girl, according to the suit.

"The staff began screaming and pandemonium ensued. Sycloria watched in horror and shock as her baby writhed with her chest rising and falling as she breathed."

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Read the Department of Health complaint (PDF)

A clinic co-owner entered the room and used a pair of shears to cut the baby's umbilical cord, the suit said. She "then scooped up the baby and placed the live baby, placenta and afterbirth in a red plastic biohazard bag, which she sealed, and then threw bag and the baby in a trash can."

Staff at the clinic did not call 911 or seek medical assistance for Williams or the baby, the suit said.

Renelique arrived at the clinic about an hour later and gave Williams a shot to put her to sleep. "She awoke after the procedure and was sent home still in complete shock," the suit said.

Police were notified of the incident by an anonymous caller who told them the baby was born alive and disposed of.

"The complainant [Williams] observed the baby moving and gasping for air for approximately five minutes," according to a police affidavit requesting a search warrant for the clinic.

Two search warrants found nothing, but officers executing a third warrant "found the decomposing body of a baby in a cardboard box in a closet," the suit said.

The baby was linked to Williams through DNA testing, the lawsuit said. An autopsy showed it had filled its lungs with air prior to death. Documents from the state Department of Health said its cause of death was determined to be "extreme prematurity."

Fewer than 1 percent of babies are born at less than 28 weeks, according to the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization aimed at reducing premature births, birth defects and infant mortality.

Infants born at that stage may survive, but require treatment with oxygen, other medical help and mechanical assistance to help them breathe. They are too immature to suck or swallow and so must be fed intravenously.

Babies born before about 32 weeks of gestation face the highest risk of health problems, the March of Dimes said.

Williams' lawsuit seeks damages from Renelique, the clinic and its staff. It claims that clinic records were falsified to say only that Williams underwent an abortion. Williams filed the suit individually and "as personal representative of the estate of Shanice Denise Osbourne, deceased," the suit said.

The medical board's action Friday came at the request of the Florida Department of Health, which filed an order in February 2007 seeking emergency restrictions on Renelique's license. Department documents list many of the same allegations as Williams' lawsuit.

"Dr. Renelique's failure to practice medicine with that level of care, skill and treatment that is recognized as being acceptable, as well as his willingness to falsify medical records, poses a serious and immediate danger to the public," the health department said.

Renelique did not respond to the health department or dispute the facts it alleged, department spokeswoman Eulinda Jackson said Friday.

Williams has declined to speak publicly about the case, said Pennekamp, her attorney. She suffers from post-traumatic stress because of the experience, he said.

This topic got posted in the wrong catagory, I apologize. Feel free to put it in the correct catagory. Thanks

[Michael]

I'm surprised no one's commented on this yet. If I recall correctly, yesterday's date shows only when it was moved to this forum-category, and that it went up some days ago.

Here and here are some related stories.

[TDP]

That's not the first medical muck up,and it surely will not be the last.

[Arizonaffcep]

Ok...so let me get this straight...she (the mom) went to get an abortion (to some, to murder her unborn child-stated for comparision, does not indicate a side of the abortion debate on my part), and then suffered "emotional distress" when the facility took the child and put her in a biohazard bag (ok...way poor form on their part...aside from the whole patient abandonment thing...)? And, as a side note...how dumb can you be (or not in-tune with your body) to NOT notice you are pregnant until someone tells you at 23wks? Especially at 18...you'd think the "gee I wonder why I haven't had my period in a little over 5 months?" MIGHT be a clue...the slightly bigger belly...N/V (if present), swollen, painful breasts...etc. Seriously...Mom's mom should have aborted HER...

[CTXMEDIC]

I agree. she went to kill her kid, the kid was killed and now she complains cuz she now sees $$$ before her eyes. I mean, the kid WAS actually 'born' but come on, isnt it all perception? nobody was pissing and moaning when she decided to abort. but now that the kid travelled the inches from her gut to earth atmosphere its all wrong and evil. spare me. I guess its only murder when you can see your victim face to face.

[Michael]

Still find it amazing that so few here have shown an interest in this. Seemed like it would have all the ingredients to call out everyone's opinion on the country's most divisive issue since slavery, and all we hear are... crickets. What about the links I posted above - reports from individuals who escaped being aborted years earlier?

People who post here aren't noticeably shy about saying how they feel concerning, oh, teen pregnancy, medical malpractice, sexual freedom. Is this story too upsetting for lifers? People in EMS have pretty strong stomachs. Or is it embarrassing for choicers? I've read very strong displays of willingness to live with the consequences of one's convictions.

Will saying something force you to sound either callous or self-righteous? Or does the concept of "failed abortion" grind our thinking gears to a halt? Or is it really a ho-hum topic that just doesn't concern us?

I don't like the idea of a cop knocking on someone's door to say "Heard you had a miscarriage... can you prove it?"

On the other hand, it sure seems like there were two patients in need of care that day.

[Eydawn]

Sorry, Michael, I've been on hiatus from the City.

Unfortunately, the issue of abortion is a sticky one legally and ethically. As you said, it's one of the most divisive topics in our modern society. The whole question is "where does life begin" and unfortunately, we have not seemed to reach a firm consensus on when someone is "alive" in the sense that they are a person, imbued with all of the rights of personhood.

Should a woman have control over her own reproduction to the point of aborting a fetus from being carried in her uterus? Pro life people say NO, once conception has taken place, you're stuck with it. Pro-choice folk say that a woman has every right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

My views (but I have begun to re-evaluate these...) are complex. I think that you should be forbidden from aborting past a certain time frame. I would say that my time limit is far earlier than the one set by most people... fingers and toes = too late. I feel that it is wrong to decide that the life within you has no right or that those rights should be subjugated to your own desires. However, I am not sure I can tell any woman what to do (or not do) with her own body. The problem is, where do you delineate between the mother's body and the body of the growing person inside? And I will admit... as a person who has staunchly defended the pro-life position ever since I have been old enough to understand the issue, I had a scare recently where I wasn't sure if I was pregnant or not (not, fortunately) and I will admit that I did consider whether or not I really wanted to continue if I *was* pregnant. I think if it had come down to it, I probably would have continued the pregnancy... but I did have those thoughts. Hence why I said my views are currently under revamp...

I also feel that abortions are sometimes medically necessary to preserve the life of the mother. These I feel are justified. Now... well-being and mental health? I'm not sure that those can be preserved by allowing someone to undergo an abortion. I know of too many women who have decided to abort and then had severe emotional regrets (as well as physical complications) later.

I also say that if a fetus has a chance of living outside the womb, no matter how small, the development is too far progressed to even CONSIDER abortion to be ethical in any fashion. Give your beautiful, unwanted baby up for adoption. There are couples around the USA who would literally do *anything* to be able to raise that child as their own. There is enough misery and hurt in this world... and shame at an unwanted pregnancy can be overcome. Our society is much more accepting of unwed pregnancy than it has ever been.

If you can't raise the child yourself, at least you can give it the 9 months it takes to bring the child to full term. That's not even a year.

Now... back to this particular incident. Everyone involved at that clinic should be in jail. If a woman comes in for an abortion and is induced into actual LABOR instead, it should be treated as an early delivery and the baby and mother should receive emergency care. The fact that the baby was stuffed into a plastic bag while visibly alive is ridiculous. I think this lady has every right to sue the clinic... they were supposed to abort the pregnancy, not deliver and then suffocate the infant.

What is the damn difference, people might ask... well, in abortion, the presumption is that the fetus is delivered dead. Induced stillbirth, in other words. If something goes wrong, ERR ON THE SIDE OF LIFE. Especially with a later term fetus.

This is really complex.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[Eydawn]

Oh, and to those stating that a woman should know if she's pregnant... you know what, sometimes women are really out of tune with their bodies or just haven't been educated as to the importance of paying attention to one's monthly cycle. And some women continue to have intervals of monthly bleeding, even when they're pregnant. So yes, it is friggin' possible, and quit insisting that someone has to be a moron to not know.

Stupid vs uneducated, know the difference.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[Krysteen]

In other words this clinic was trying to cover something up that should not have been done in the first place? Otherwise why did they not act? From what I have heard most places will not abort after 12-16weeks gestation. Correct me if I am wrong, but I did not know that they even abort at that stage. It is murder, that nurse suffocated that baby.

[Dustdevil]

Still find it amazing that so few here have shown an interest in this.

The interest is there. I think we're all just battle weary from the topic, which has been hashed out here before.

It's no secret who here is Pro Life and who is pro murder. And nobody's mind is changing over yet another tread to argue it. So many of us simply choose to save our energy for other, less emotional and less futile discussions.