California Abortionist to face medical board after death of abortion patient

Doc lost license once, accused of another death
By COURTNEY PERKES / Orange County Register 1/6/2010

An Anaheim doctor who lost his medical license in 2002 after the death of a newborn, only to have it reinstated, is facing state allegations of negligence in the case of a woman who died during an abortion.

Dr. Andrew Rutland, an obstetrician-gynecologist, could be temporarily suspended from practicing after a California Medical Board hearing Thursday in San Diego, said board spokeswoman Candis Cohen.

According to state legal documents, a 30-year-old patient died last year after Rutland is alleged to have given her anesthesia without knowing the safe dosage. He is also accused of practicing in an unlicensed office and performing surgery outside a hospital without malpractice insurance, the board documents say.

Rutland’s attorney, Peter Osinoff, declined to comment until after the hearing. Rutland did not respond to a message left at his Anaheim office.

In 2002, Rutland agreed to give up his medical license after a two-year medical board investigation into the deaths of two babies, as well as allegations that he performed unnecessary hysterectomies, lied to patients and had sex with a patient in his office. Five years later, some of his former Orange County patients were outraged when the board reinstated his license to practice.

Half of the doctors who sought to regain their licenses in the past fiscal year were reinstated, according to the board. They must prove they have been rehabilitated and are fit to practice medicine.

“It’s unusual,” Cohen said. “Usually after a license revocation, if they petition successfully and have been reinstated, they are more compliant with the law.”
The board’s legal documents give this account of the most recent allegations:

An unidentified woman visited Rutland’s San Gabriel clinic in July for a second-trimester abortion. He injected lidocaine, a local anesthetic, in her cervix. Shortly afterward, the patient began to have a reaction, documents say.

Rutland, 66, performed CPR. The board documents say there was a “significant delay” in calling 911. When paramedics arrived, the woman was in cardiac arrest. She was taken to a hospital where she died six days later. An autopsy concluded that her heart attack was caused by “lidocaine toxicity,” board documents say.

The board alleges that Rutland gave her the anesthetic “without knowledge of the safe dosage range or maximum safe dose.” The documents say he also failed to recognize the signs of toxicity or provide appropriate resuscitation efforts.

The documents also accuse Rutland of failing to report her death to the board.

Cohen said the board’s attorney is seeking a judge’s order to suspend Rutland’s license until the latest accusation is resolved because he poses an “imminent danger to the public health.”
When Rutland settled the case with the board and agreed to surrender his license, he admitted to negligence only in the 1999 death of Jillian Broussard. Her spinal cord was torn during delivery by forceps and she died a week later.

Jillian’s father, Scott Broussard of San Juan Capistrano, said he and his wife were very disappointed that Rutland was allowed to practice again. Broussard said after the delivery, Rutland insisted their daughter had suffered a stroke.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Broussard said of the latest accusation against Rutland. “There’s the making of a mistake, but then there’s the way that it was made and the reaction by him afterward. He was not a man of honor or integrity.”

Broussard called the woman’s death a “calculable failure.”

“The responsibility for this death is on the medical board, to be shared with Dr. Rutland,” Broussard said. “They’re supposed to protect the public and they have failed.”

ALSO READ: Allegations Of Molestation, Negligence Haunt Chula Vista Abortion Clinic

According to the State of California: Administrative/Disciplinary Action

Case Number: D1 2006 176260
Description of Action: ACCUSATION AND PETITION TO REVOKE PROBATION FILED. THE PHYSICIAN HAS NOT HAD A HEARING OR BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF ANY CHARGES.
Effective Date of Action: DECEMBER 24, 2009

Case Number: 20 2006 176260
Description of Action: LICENSE SURRENDERED ON 10/24/02; LICENSE REINSTATED AND PLACED ON FIVE YEARS PROBATION ON 10/25/07 WITH VARIOUS TERMS & CONDITIONS. DR. RUTLAND IS PROHIBITED FROM ENGAGING IN THE SOLO PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.
Effective Date of Action: OCTOBER 25, 2007

UPDATE JAN 8, 2010

READ: Abortion doc banned from doing abortions after death of patient, retains license to practice medicine

2/18/2010 UPDATE on Abortionist Andrew Rutland: