Wednesday July 28, 2010
Tiller Associate Faces Discipline from Kansas Medical Board
Kansas, July 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts (KSBHA) has filed an 11-count petition against Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus for negligence while making late-term abortion referrals for the late Dr. George Tiller.
“This petition is verification that we were correct about our allegations that Neuhaus and Tiller were operating outside the law,” said Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger.
“It is also evidence that the efforts to work peacefully within the legal system that have been employed by us for over two decades are effective at exposing abortion abuses and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
“The system isn’t perfect, but it does work,”
The 30-page petition, which was filed on April 16, accuses Neuhaus of failing adequately to interview patients she evaluated, of failing adequately to review the history of patients she evaluated, of failing adequately to evaluate the “behavioral or functional impact” of the patients’ status, and of failing to keep adequate medical records, among other charges. It is based on a complaint filed by Sullenger in 2006, after she discovered that Tiller used only Neuhaus as the legally required second opinion for all abortions after the 21st week.
Kansas law states that abortions performed on viable infants after 21 weeks may only be performed if a woman faces significant and irreversible harm. An independent physician must concur with the abortionist in this evaluation. Although Neuhaus provided the ostensibly independent second opinion for Tiller’s abortions, in 2003 Neuhaus had no source of income but her consulting work with Tiller, which enabled Tiller’s facility to be a “one stop shop” for abortion.
In early 2009 Tiller was tried for performing abortions without having gained an independent opinion; although he was found not guilty, the KSBHA quickly filed a petition against him after the trial ended.
The KSBHA closed this case after Tiller was murdered; the current petition is based on the 11 patient files used in the KSBHA’s case against Tiller. Patients named in the complaint had abortions in 2003, range from 10 to 18 years old, and had unborn children between 25 and 29 weeks of gestation.
In 1999 and in 2001 Neuhaus came under discipline by the KSBHA for medical abuses including violations of informed consent laws, shoddy record-keeping, and lack of proper patient care.
She has been charged with forcibly sedating and performing an abortion on a patient who had withdrawn consent and had attempted to leave the room. Dr. Neuhaus could face revocation of her medical license by the KSBHA because of the current petition.
An evidentiary hearing is set for January 11. After this a hearing officer will make a recommendation to the KSBHA regarding whether Neuhaus should be disciplined.
“We wish that this petition had been filed years ago,” said Sullenger, “when our complaint was first made, but are thankful for the Board’s willingness to pursue this matter against an abortionist who has been illegally operating for years in a manner that has endangered the lives of women and cost the lives of viable babies that the laws of Kansas were enacted to protect.”