Los Angeles, CA — A Claremont, California abortion practitioner on probation and without medical malpractice insurance has been stripped of his license after he acknowledged to the Medical Board of California that he misled patients, endangered their lives and attempted a second-trimester abortion.
Michael Rosenthal, who began practicing in 1969, is married to Claremont Councilwoman Karen Rosenthal, a former mayor.
He admitted gross negligence and incompetence to the board in an agreement signed Sept. 24, 2001. In an interview Friday he admitted to poor decisions that he made in part because he was taking Prozac that he prescribed to himself.
Also, he did not fight the charges because he could not afford to pay high lawyer fees, he said.
“I was not in a position to defend myself,” he said. “So I basically rolled over.”
Rosenthal said he retired soon after the latest incidents. The board accused him of mishandling three abortions in 1999, when he was running his own Upland, California-based facility called the Family Birthing Center. The business also performed abortions.
He admitted to the board that he misled patients, lied to another physician, failed to reveal an abnormal pap smear result, failed to perform an ultrasound on a patient who had already delivered four babies by caesarean section, and started an abortion on a woman in her second trimester.
At the time, Rosenthal was on probation for two other incidents, one in 1986 and one in 1992. In the latter case, medical board prosecutors said he gambled that a pregnancy would be without incident and didn't tell his patient that he had lost his privileges in San Antonio when he practiced there.
His privileges were revoked after his insurance company stopped his malpractice coverage in 1992.
On Friday, Rosenthal was most worried that his personal troubles would embarrass his wife. “The single biggest thing is embarrassing Karen,” he said. “I have resolved this in my own mind a long time ago…. For myself, I just don't care.”
Karen Rosenthal defended her husband, saying that none of the charges were ever proved in court. “He is a great doctor. He delivered over 5,000 babies and is very well loved in the community,” she said.
See full coverage in LA Times.
Abortion Kills Young Woman in Greece
Drama, Greece — Two doctors from the northern town of Drama caused the death through their negligence of a young woman who had come to them for an abortion last February, a Kavala, Greece court ruled on Saturday.
Nikolaos Fotiadis, 44, was given four years and Theodoros Nikolakopoulos, 48, three years and three months in jail.
Theokleia Dalia, 24, from Serres, suffered uncontrollable hemorrhaging during the abortion and died of a heart attack, according to the coroner who testified.
Both men appealed the courts decision and have been released.
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)
