Doc who worked for several Planned Parenthood clinics to face state medical board

UPDATE: A doctor who performed abortions at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Wilmington has agreed to pay a $1,500 fine and receive a letter of reprimand to resolve a complaint by Delaware officials accusing him of negligence and incompetence.

The state Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline on Tuesday accepted a consent agreement between state officials and Dr. Timothy Liveright. See more below:

The Delaware state Board of Medical Licensure & Discipline will consider the case of former Planned Parenthood doctor Timothy Liveright during a closed session at 2 p.m. today in Dover.

Liveright performed thousands of abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics around the nation ( see a list below) , including Wilmington’s site at Seventh and Shipley streets.

But several medical emergencies at the clinic early last year prompted three former clinic employees – two nurses and a manager – to go public with complaints about conditions at the clinic, saying patients’ lives were put at risk by unsanitary practices and other deficiencies. The nurses said complaints they made in 2012 were ignored or dismissed.

Previously, state officials had reached a consent agreement in the complaint.

The complaint filed in May of 2013 said Dr. Timothy Liveright represented a “clear and immediate danger to the public.” It accused him of engaging in multiple acts of incompetence and negligence in performing abortions on five patients in February and March of this year.

The state’s complaint cited Liveright for numerous problems including: unprofessional conduct such as yelling at patients and sexual harassment of female employees. Additional charges included over-sedating patients, performing unnecessary suction procedures, failing to properly assess patients, failure to properly administer oxygen, causing at least one perforation during surgery, failing to properly supervise resident physicians during procedures and failing to act with due competence and diligence to avoid unnecessary complications, resulting in patients requiring emergency hospital treatment.

In April, Liveright sent a letter to the Division of Professional Regulation, saying he had “retired from practicing medicine in Delaware and [had] no intentions of ever seeking practice there in the future,” according to the complaint.

But in a May interview with The News Journal after the complaint was filed, Liveright called the allegations a “scandalous” effort to make him a scapegoat for the failings of others at the clinic.

A review by the state Division of Public Health found 14 kinds of violations at the clinic, including inadequate documentation of narcotics, supplies that had exceeded expiration dates, lax practices to ensure sterility, unlabeled bottles of fluid and overdue or uncertain maintenance records. The clinic suspended its surgical abortion services for several weeks as problems were addressed.

Liveright signed the consent agreement with the state just before a scheduled hearing in November. Terms were not disclosed, but must be approved by the board. If it approves the terms, details of the agreement will be made public. If it doesn’t, a new hearing will be scheduled.

In the January 2014 consent agreement, Liveright admitted only that he failed to adequately document procedures and results in charts for three patients.

He also acknowledged that he had been reprimanded by Planned Parenthood in March 2012 for “unprofessional, disrespectful and inappropriate” conduct. According to the consent agreement, Liveright agreed to participate in sexual harassment training to resolve those issues.

The agreement says Liveright sent a letter to state officials last year saying he was retired from medical practice in Delaware and enclosing his license.

“The resolution reflects the improper medical practices of the respondent that were substantiated during the ongoing investigation and it was reached with his agreement to no longer practice medicine in Delaware,” said Joe Rogalsky, a spokesman for Attorney General Beau Biden.

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TIMOTHY FOUCH LIVERIGHT previously showed a licensed to practice only in Pennsylvania, where he said he has worked at Planned Parenthood in West Chester, Chester, PA and clinics in Philadelphia. He is not currently practicing medicine there, he said.

He once worked for Planned Parenthood in Trenton, N.J., Liveright said, but he let his license expire in 2011. Agency officials in those states would not comment on Liveright. And Third Age has him listed as Planned Parenthood of the Mercer Area.

And the state of California has him listed there as license. Actually according to Healthgrades, Liveright is working at Planned Parenthood, San Jose if you match the addresses at both websites.

According to Triage Health– Liveright also worked at Planned Parenthood Dover Center in Dover, De. and This website says he worked at 40 E Delaware AveNewark DE 19716 ..but if you look up 140 E Delaware Ave Newark DE 19711 – you get a Planned Parenthood in Newark, DE.

Vitals shows several locations where Liveright is listed

201 29th St Ste B Sacramento, CA 95816 is Planned Parenthood B Street Health Center in Sacramento, Ca.

1866 B St Hayward, CA 94541 goes to Planned Parenthood Central Hayward Health Center, Hayward Ca.

7200 Bancroft Ave Ste 210 Oakland, CA 94605 shows a Yellow Page listing for Planned Parenthood Oakland, Ca

815 Eddy St Ste 100 San Francisco, CA 94109 Shows a Super Pages listing for Planned Parenthood San Francisco formerly known as Planned Parenthood Golden Gate.

In Florida his license has been voided.

By his own account, Timothy Liveright has performed about 50,000 abortions across the country over nearly three-plus decades, most recently for Planned Parenthood of Delaware.

He even played an abortion doctor in a 2010 movie starring Hollywood heavyweights Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

Liveright, 68, found himself under scrutiny in Delaware as nurses criticized his practices and behavior during a packed state Senate hearing, and state officials formally accused him of incompetence and misconduct that put patients in danger.

He now lives on a farm near Allentown, Pa., and for the past few years Liveright flew his single-engine plane to Delaware about once a week to work at clinics in Wilmington and Dover. He’d perform as many as 30 abortions a day, he said, making about $60 per procedure and from $5,000 to $10,000 a month, depending on demand.

Liveright’s work in Delaware came to an abrupt end in April after the state began a second round of investigations in less than a year into complaints that his practices were sloppy and his behavior strange.

Liveright said he often worked for nonprofits and before becoming an abortionist had treated the homeless and patients with AIDS, explaining that he was an advocate of “social medicine.”

When he came to Delaware in late 2002, he worked for Planned Parenthood. He said the experience was rewarding but he let his license lapse in 2005 while he worked for their clinics in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “I love the organization,” he said.

He returned to Delaware in 2009 after renewing his license, and usually flew every Friday to New Castle County Airport for a day of work at the Wilmington clinic.

It was during this period that he made a brief appearance in the movie, “Blue Valentine,” playing an abortionist. In his one scene, Liveright begins giving the character played by Michelle Williams an abortion, but she decides she doesn’t want to go through with it and leaves the treatment room.

During his second stint in Delaware, Liveright said, Planned Parenthood was beset by “a rather tumultuous administrative set of headaches.”

The Wilmington clinic’s practices also left much to be desired, he said. “I’ve been around, and this place was definitely less well-organized than other places I’ve been,” he said. “A lot of it was management was not at the top of their game.”

Liveright also questioned the judgment of state regulators who investigated allegations by former clinic nurses Joyce Vasikonis and Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich about him and the clinic. They cleared him late last year of any wrongdoing but now consider him a danger, an action he labeled “double jeopardy.”

BACKSTORY:

The Delaware Attorney General’s Office filed the complaint against former Planned Parenthood abortion doctor Timothy F. Liveright, citing him for unprofessional, incompetent and negligent conduct during his practice at the Wilmington clinic and calling him a “clear and immediate danger to the public.”

Contacted by phone Thursday evening, Liveright, 68, said such charges were “scandalous” for the state to make.

Liveright, who last month voluntarily surrendered his license to practice medicine in Delaware, performed abortions at the Planned Parenthood clinic on Shipley Street. He called the complaint “double jeopardy,” noting that similar complaints were investigated and dismissed last fall.

“It’s pure bullshit,” he said. “They’re jumping on whatever they can jump on. I don’t know what their agenda is, but I don’t think I’m a danger to the public.”

According to the complaint, Liveright was reprimanded by Planned Parenthood of Delaware for “unprofessional, disrespectful, and inappropriate” conduct that included “yelling, screaming, and cursing” in front of employees and patients and sexual harassment of female employees.

Read formal complaint filed by the Delaware Department of Justice on May 30, 2013 concerning Dr. Timothy Liveright who worked for Planned Parenthood in Wilmington, Delaware !

At the time, Collins said the board has several sanctions available, including license revocation, a fine, suspension, probation and reprimand.

Specifically, the complaint cited Liveright for:

• Oversedating patients

• Performing unnecessary suction procedures

• Failing to properly assess a patient’s airway, lungs and heart prior to administering sedation

• Failing to properly assess patients

• Failing to properly administer oxygen

• Failing to adequately document procedures and results of procedures in patient charts

• Failing to consider alternative treatments

• Causing at least one perforation during surgery

• Failing to properly supervise resident physicians during procedures

• Failing to act with due competence and diligence to avoid unnecessary complications, resulting in patients requiring emergency hospital treatment

The state started the investigation earlier this year when several emergencies arose after abortions Liveright performed at the Wilmington clinic. A small cadre of anti-abortion protesters witnessed the arrival of ambulances and raised questions. Two former Planned Parenthood nurses then came forward with complaints they had filed in 2012 against the doctor and clinic.

Liveright left the staff of Planned Parenthood in late March. In April, he sent a letter to the Division of Professional Regulation, saying he had “retired from practicing medicine in Delaware and [had] no intentions of ever seeking practice there in the future,” according to the complaint.

Liveright has performed abortions in several states across the country, but several of those medical licenses are no longer in effect. He still is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania. When asked if he was practicing there, Liveright said, “None of your business.”

BACK STORY HERE

Delaware Planned Parenthood staffer RN Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich, , who worked at Planned Parenthood Delaware’s Dover and Wilmington clinics for 3-1/2 months in 2012, spoke to Jill Stanek and revealed many troubling aspects of the abortion clinic she walked out of.

Jane claims she sent documentation and letters of complaint about the abortion clinic to Planned Parenthood who ignored them.

Other incidents, excerpted from a letter Jane wrote to her bosses (with slight grammatical editing):

“During a procedure that another doctor was performing, Dr. Liveright entered the room to see how things were proceeding. The doctors had a conversation regarding the faulty equipment in front of the patient…. After the doctors finished their conversation, Dr. Liveright struck the patient’s right lateral thigh with force with his opened hand, stating ‘BREATHE!’ The patient, shocked and puzzled, looked at me as if to say, ‘What is he doing?’ I suggested that Dr. Liveright must have some sort of unusual technique to help distract patients from the discomfort of the procedure. The patient looked at me, rolled her eyes, held my hand tight, and tried to relax and concentrate on her breathing. That is when Dr. Liveright peeks around the curtain (as he had not exited the room) and plays peek-a-boo with the patient. The patient then rolls her eyes and shakes her head stating, ‘He’s not right.’ The entire time this is happening, the other doctor is continuing to dilate the patient! I then stated, ‘Goodbye Dr. Liveright,’ as I pulled the curtain around his head….”

“Sexual harassment: I have noted Dr. Liveright inappropriately look up and down patients as well as staff members in a sexual kind of way. He actually stands back with a grin and slowly directs his eyes up and down a patient’s body.”

Jayne said management told her Liveright had previously been disciplined for sexual harassment against a staff member.

Jayne’s letter also described Liveright as a racist in a bizarre incident with an African-American patient:

“Dr. Liveright enters the room… and states… ‘Did you know that the Belgians took over Africa and did really bad things?’…. He continues to carry this conversation on with himself while he roughly dilates and then belittles the patient…. (by the way, a patient that is crying and holding on to my hand tight, as I try to distract her from him)…. He states, ‘The United States does the same thing. Did you know that?’ The patient, with tears falling down her cheeks, shakes her head, indicating, ‘No,’ which Dr. Liveright replies, ‘I didn’t think you’d know anything about that. Yup, the United States is a big bully.’”

Jane is one of two former employees of Planned Parenthood Delaware – both registered nurses – have publicly called for investigations into the operation’s practices.

“What I believe should happen is that Planned Parenthood should no longer be self-regulated,” said Joyce Vasikonis, a Dover nurse who also worked at the Wilmington site. Vasikonis was interim surgical services manager when she resigned last August.

Vasikonis describes herself as “radically pro-abortion,” but said she could not continue to work under the conditions she saw.

According to the Washington Post, the two nurses testified at a state Senate hearing about problems at the facility.

“He was a very small part of it,” nurse Joyce Vasikonis said Thursday about Liveright. “The biggest issue for me was sterility. The staff didn’t know how to maintain sterility from beginning to end.”

Vasikonis, who worked at the clinic from October 2011 to August 2012, said Liveright often failed to wear sterile gloves during abortions, but that she never saw any problems with the actual physical procedures themselves.

She also said she never saw Liveright yelling or cursing, but that she did witness an incident of sexual harassment. That incident involved Liveright teasing a young female intern about a cellphone photograph of a pierced penis that he and another male employee were looking at.

Liveright said the two nurses had legitimate concerns — not about him, but about Planned Parenthood.

“Planned Parenthood is partly to blame for all of this,” he said. “They’ve allowed this circus to continue. It’s partly because they never listened to these women to begin with.”

Liveright promised to clear his name but said he bears no ill will toward the agency.

“Women are taken care of. Abortions are done,” he said. “A couple of complications, but by and large no problem. People can complain about nit-picky stuff and the nurses were on a rampage because no one would listen within the organization.”

Despite the unwelcome allegations and the fact that he thinks Planned Parenthood has “blackballed me,” Liveright said he would consider working for them again.