Dr. Caitlin Bernard Wiki – Dr. Caitlin Bernard Biography

An Indianapolis doctor who publicly disclosed that she provided abortion services to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim last year has been reprimanded and fined by the Indiana medical licensing board after determining that the disclosure violated federal and state laws patient privacy. On Thursday, the board found Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an OB/GYN, responsible for three counts of violating patient privacy laws after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a complaint against the doctor in November. .

However, the board dismissed two other allegations in the complaint, finding that she did not violate laws that require doctors to promptly report suspected child abuse and to stay abreast of patient privacy and mandatory reporting laws.

Bernard will be fined $3,000 and receive a warning letter, according to the board, which has agreed to allow him to continue practicing medicine. The complaint alleges that Bernard violated patient privacy law when she discussed the girl’s case without the consent of the patient or a guardian, including without using her name, over the summer with the Indianapolis Star.

The revelation of why the Ohio girl made her medical trip to Indiana, days after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and ended federal abortion rights, helped bring Bernard into the national abortion rights debate in the county.

provided abortion services to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim

Bernard told CNN last year that he provided abortion services to the girl in late June and that the girl traveled to Indiana for the procedure because Ohio, after the Roe ruling, generally banned abortions after heart activity is detected. early, which is about six weeks. in a pregnancy. The girl was six weeks and three days pregnant, Bernard said.

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At the time of the procedure, Indiana allowed abortions up to 20 weeks after fertilization. Since then, the state enacted a law that prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions for rape or incest or to save the woman’s life, prevent any serious risk to the woman’s health, and lethal fetal abnormalities.

The case quickly became a flash point in the post-Roe standoff over abortion rights. Several Republican politicians and the media initially showed skepticism of Bernard’s claims until a man was accused of raping the girl and an Ohio detective testified that the girl had had an abortion in Indianapolis. The president of Indiana’s medical licensing board spoke Thursday about supporting a sanction against Bernard.

“My reason for recommending a letter of reprimand would be that I don’t think she expected this to go viral,” board chairman Dr. John Strobel said during deliberations. “I don’t think she expected this care to go to this patient.” “But I think that we as physicians need to be more careful in this situation,” Strobel said. “I think she is a good doctor. … I think she is safe to go back to practice.”

Cory Voight, co-director of the attorney general’s office’s complex litigation division, said the complaint centered on Bernard’s decision to “discuss her patient with a reporter from Indiana’s largest newspaper.”

“The effect of that decision is that everyone, the country, found out about her patient. I found out that a 10-year-old girl was raped and had an abortion,” Voight said in his opening remarks. The complaint asked the licensing board to impose “appropriate disciplinary action” but did not request a specific penalty.

Bernard’s lawyer has dismissed Rokita’s complaint as a “last ditch effort to intimidate” her and other abortion providers. Bernard maintained that she did not reveal protected details about the boy. “I did not disclose any protected health information. I complied with all HIPAA and patient confidentiality laws to the best of my knowledge and belief,” Bernard testified Thursday. “And again, I did not release any information that would lead to her identification.”

Bernard’s employer, Indiana University Health, said in July that it reviewed the case and determined that the doctor “complied with privacy laws.” The complaint alleges that Bernard did not follow the correct procedures for reporting child abuse to Indiana authorities after abortion services were performed.

After deliberations Thursday, the state medical board concluded that Bernard did not violate procedures and found her not liable. Bernard told the board that she immediately notified a hospital social worker of the possible abuse. The social worker testified that she contacted officials in Ohio, where the abuse occurred, and that authorities were already investigating the case.

Bernard reported the abortion procedure to the Indiana Department of Health on July 2, two days after it was performed, as required by the department, according to agency documents obtained by CNN.

She told the licensing board Thursday that she, too, filed the report, alleging abuse, with the Indiana Department of Children’s Services. The department previously declined to publicly confirm whether it received a report from Bernard, citing confidentiality law.Read More…….