Health and Fitness ? Doctor's exams scrutinized in abortion referrals ...

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) ? A Kansas doctor?s medical records don?t show adequate exams of young patients that she diagnosed with mental health problems and referred elsewhere for late-term abortions, a Georgetown University professor testified Tuesday during a disciplinary hearing.

A complaint before the State Board of Healing Arts accuses Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus of negligence in conducting her exams. Board attorneys presenting the case against Neuhaus to a hearing officer called Dr. Liza Gold, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown?s Medical Center, as an expert witness.

The complaint deals with Neuhaus? care for 11 patients ? ages 10 to 18 ? all at least 25 weeks pregnant, who received abortions from the late Dr. George Tiller?s clinic in Wichita from July to November 2003. Kansas law permits the abortion of a viable fetus starting at the 22nd week of pregnancy only if the woman faces death or ?substantial and irreversible? harm to ?a major bodily function,? which in 2003 included mental health.

Neuhaus provided second opinions Tiller needed under the law, diagnosing the young patients with anxiety disorder, acute stress disorder and single-episode major depression. Board attorneys went through each patient?s case and Neuhaus? accompanying records.

Gold testified the records contained ?generic? statements about the patients? conditions, echoing language in the latest edition of psychiatry?s diagnostic manual. She said she couldn?t tell from the records when Neuhaus saw the patients or for how long.

She also said the records showed Neuhaus used a computer program, ?PsychManager Lite,? to create reports within minutes of finishing her exams.

?There isn?t even a signature on these documents that showed that Dr. Neuhaus took responsibility or owned them,? Gold testified in one case.

Neuhaus has disputed the allegations of negligence and is expected to testify in her own defense Wednesday or Thursday. One of her attorneys, Robert Eye, objected unsuccessfully to Gold being designated as an expert witness, arguing she Gold doesn?t have enough expertise with abortion. Eye said during a break in the hearing Tuesday that Gold?s testimony also was flawed because it was based on only a review of records.

?She?s not interviewed Dr. Neuhaus, nor has she interviewed any of these patients,? Eye said.

Anti-abortion groups have pushed the board to discipline Neuhaus since at least 2000. The hearing resulted from a 2006 complaint filed by Operation Rescue.

Tiller was one of a few U.S. physicians performing late-term procedures when a man professing strong anti-abortion views shot him to death in May 2009. The doctor had been acquitted two months earlier of misdemeanor criminal charges that, in relying on Neuhaus for referrals, he wasn?t getting the independent second medical opinion as state law required.

The hearing officer will issue an order recommending whether Neuhaus, from Nortonville, a small town about 30 miles north of Lawrence, should face sanctions. The 15-member board, mostly doctors, will make the final decision and has the power to revoke her Kansas license.

Cases the board attorneys examined Tuesday included those of the 14-year-old New York girl and a 10-year-old rape and incest victim from California who had a late-term abortion at Tiller?s clinic in July 2003.

Gold testified that Neuhaus? records contained five pages for the 14-year-old and seven pages for the 10-year-old.

In the 10-year-old?s case, Gold questioned whether Neuhaus met accepted standards of care because Neuhaus didn?t refer the girl to a specialist. But, Gold said, even assuming Neuhaus had the proper training, her reports contain too little data about the patient and contradictory information about whether the girl was suicidal.

?This kind of evaluation would take, even for a specialist, hours and hours and require input from other caregivers,? Gold testified. ?There is no indication that kind of labor-intensive process occurred.?

Eye said Gold?s testimony didn?t adequately consider information shared by Tiller?s clinic.

?Dr. Neuhaus had an obligation to do an independent medical review, true, but there?s nothing to say that it?s not legitimate to rely on the work of others who are providing information,? Eye said. ?That?s common in a doctor?s office.?

___

Online:

Kansas State Board of Healing Arts: http://www.ksbha.org/

Article source: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Doctor-s-exams-scrutinized-in-abortion-referrals-2167819.php

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Source: http://medicaltips.biz/2011/09/14/doctors-exams-scrutinized-in-abortion-referrals/

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