Published

February 19, 2015

Link

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/texas-medical-board-investigates-abortionist-for-drug-violations-after-abby

AUSTIN, TX, February 19, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Texas Medical Board (TMB) has opened an investigation into abortionist Dr. Paul Fine over allegations that he committed illegal, fraudulent, and unethical practices as the medical director for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.

In testimony delivered to the TMB last week, and subsequently sent in an email to supporters, “And Then There Were None” founder Abby Johnson — a former Planned Parenthood clinic director — said that Fine would sign for medications without examining patients, engaged in fraudulent patient consent forms, and used the RU-486 pill against Food & Drug Administration regulations.

These and other allegations were heard by the TMB on February 12, and later that day the board decided to open an investigation into Fine’s practices. On Thursday, Johnson told LifeSiteNews that “the two allegations that they found most compelling were the presign end prescriptions for narcotics and backdating/fraudulently signing the consent forms for medication abortion.”

Johnson said that she filed the complaint last year, five years after she left Planned Parenthood to become a leader in the pro-life movement. “It didn’t even occur to me that many of the alleged complaints fell under medical malpractice until I started talking to my friend Joe Pojman with Texas Alliance for Life,” said Johnson. “He started showing me the regulations and rules for abortion facilities and I realized that we had not been following many of them. It was then that I drafted the complaint and sent it in to the TMB.”

Johnson said that while she “didn’t provide any documents” to the board, she did provide “very specific information about the negligence and gave the TMB the instructions on how to obtain the information they need to investigate.”

The Texas Medical Board did not return LifeSiteNews’ request for comment about its investigative process, though some details are available on its website. The site says that “if standard of care/treatment violations are at issue, all relevant information, including medical records, will be reviewed by at least two members of the TMB Expert Panel who are board-certified in the same or similar medical specialty as the respondent. If the resulting Expert Panel Report finds the respondent acted in a manner inconsistent with public health and welfare, including failure to meet the standard of care — the case will be forwarded to the Litigation Section for further action. Otherwise, the matter will be recommended for dismissal.”

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast did not return LifeSiteNews’ request for comment about the allegations by Johnson and the investigation by the TMB.

Below are the contents of an email sent by Johnson to supporters about her allegations:

• Dr. Paul Fine pre-signed hundreds of prescription pads for controlled substances (i.e. narcotics). These medications were given to patients for pain management after an abortion. Dr. Fine never examined the patients being given these prescriptions to determine a medical necessity for the controlled substances.
• Dr. Paul Fine fraudulently signed patient consent forms for patients he had never been in contact with. The complaint states that he falsely signed patient consent forms that stated “the patient signed the patient agreement in my presence after I counseled her and answered all her questions . . .” However, Dr. Fine never counseled or answered any questions from these patients, but fraudulently signed legal documents stating that he did.
• Under Dr. Paul Fine’s supervision, friends of patients were given antibiotics for sexually transmitted diseases with no patient exam or inquiry into medication allergies. [T]here were several occasions where clinic staff received phone calls from non-patients experiencing allergic reactions to the antibiotics originating from Dr. Fine’s clinic.
• Even though Dr. Paul Fine was the medical director for Johnson’s facility, Johnson states that he never once stepped foot inside the clinic to offer supervision during her eight years there. The mid-level clinicians who saw patients under his authority had no continuing relationship with Dr. Fine. The clinic often went several weeks with no physician present, and on at least one occasion, several months passed without the presence of any physician at all.

Other allegations include Medicaid fraud, administering the RU-486 abortion pill against FDA regulations, and having unqualified staff administering anesthesia under his supervision.