Vicky Arias, FISM News
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A medical board in Indiana voted on Thursday to fine and reprimand Dr. Caitlin Bernard for violating patient privacy rights after she performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim and proceeded to tell the media.
The Indiana Medical Licensing Board issued a letter of reprimand to the doctor and fined her $3,000 for violating HIPAA regulations and privacy laws, but didn’t revoke her medical license.
On November 30, 2022, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed an Administrative Complaint against Bernard, alleging that the doctor “violated her professional obligations” by not obtaining “written authorization to release a minor’s medical information … and failed to immediately report suspected child abuse to local law enforcement in Indianapolis or the Indiana Department of Children Services.”
WHAT HAPPENED?
In June 2022, Bernard received a phone call from an Ohio medical practitioner regarding the case of a 10-year-old rape victim who had become pregnant. Ohio law prevented the practitioner from performing an abortion on the girl and asked Bernard if she would carry out the procedure. Bernard agreed and performed the procedure on June 30, 2022.
According to the complaint, Bernard agreed to speak to a reporter at a pro-abortion rally regarding the abortion she’d performed on the child without the minor’s consent.
In a Fox News report, Rokita stated that Bernard was an “abortion activist acting as a doctor.”
Rokita also alleged that Bernard failed the child by not acting with greater urgency to report the alleged rape of the minor to Indiana law enforcement sooner.
Per the filed court document, Bernard “did not comply with her mandatory reporting obligations to Indiana authorities … [She] suspected the patient was a victim of abuse because she was a pregnant 10-year-old … [and] knew of that abuse as early as June 27, 2022, when she spoke to the Ohio physician, and no later than June 30, 2022, when she performed the abortion.”
The complaint states that Bernard communicated with authorities in Ohio and was aware that an investigation was underway in that state but didn’t notify the child services department in the state of Indiana “until July 2, 2022, which is two days after the latest she would have known or had reason to believe the patient had been abused.”
The document claims that “Indiana authorities … would have been able to keep [the minor] from being returned to her alleged perpetrator.”
Bernard has denied the allegations, stating that she did, in fact, properly report the abuse. According to NBC News, “Bernard’s lawyer, Alice Morical, said that Bernard did report [the] child abuse in a manner consistent with Indiana law, since she informed a social worker at her university about the 10-year-old patient.” Bernard’s legal team also argued that the doctor didn’t violate HIPAA laws since the physician didn’t release identifying information about the patient, such as her name or date of birth.
While the medical board found that Bernard violated ethical standards regarding patient privacy, they agreed with Bernard’s legal team that the doctor didn’t improperly report the abuse.
Rokita tweeted his approval of the medical board’s decision.
“What if it was your child or your parent or your sibling who was going through a sensitive medical crisis, and the doctor, who you thought was on your side, ran to the press for political reasons?” Rokita questioned. “It’s not right, and the facts we presented … made that clear. Caitlin Bernard was found liable for violating state and federal patient privacy law on three separate counts.”