Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Friday, May 14, 2010
What you should do if Child Protective Services knocks on your door June 18, 5:34 AMAlbany CPS and Family Court ExaminerDaniel Weaver
http://www.examiner.com/x-14537-Albany-CPS-and-Family-Court-Examiner~y2009m6d18-What-you-should-do-if-Child-Protective-Services-knocks-on-your-door
Florida Tightening Psych Drug Rules DCF tightening medicine rules
Florida Tightening Psych Drug Rules Inbox
From:
To: "Psych News"
Subject: Florida Tightening Psych Drug Rules
Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 11:21:33 -0400
George Sheldon - Secretary of the Florida Department
of Children and Families
Daytona Beach News Journal
DCF tightening medicine rules
By DEBORAH CIRCELLI
May 14, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH — A bill that would have ensured tighter controls on administering psychotropic drugs to foster children failed to pass this legislative session, but the head of the state Department of Children & Families is moving forward with rules he says will ensure children are safe.
George Sheldon, secretary for the state Department of Children & Families, who was in town Thursday afternoon to attend community meetings on the department’s future strategic plan, said the bill not passing was a “major failure” on the part of the Legislature.
A work group made 90 recommendations following the April 2009 death of a South Florida foster child, Gabriel Myers, 7, who was prescribed several mind-altering drugs and hanged himself in his foster home.
Some of the recommendations included hiring a chief medical officer to monitor the prescribing of such medications, which Sheldon plans to move forward with using other funds.
By July 1, he said, operating procedures also will be in place to ensure every child on psychotropic medications has a guardian; to prohibit any foster child from being a part of any clinical trials; and to make sure every child is informed of the side effects, to name a few.
Psychotropic medications are drugs used for psychiatric reasons such as mood stabilizers, stimulants and drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
A database also will be in place to allow DCF to monitor any “red flag” cases where a child is on more than two psychotropic medications at the same time, he said.
“I’m unwilling to have Gabriel Myers’ death be in vain,” Sheldon said in an interview Thursday.
Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, who was honored at a community meeting Thursday for her work over the years for social services, said she was “very disappointed” the bill did not pass and that it “is an issue that must be dealt with in our state.”
The work group criticized DCF in the review of Gabriel’s death and raised concerns in some cases that the drugs have been used to control foster children’s behaviors.
Statewide as of May 7, according to DCF records, 14.6 percent or 2,724 foster children are on one or more prescriptions for psychotropic medications, with 122 or 14.8 percent locally.
Bill Babiez, CEO of Community Partnership for Children, the local foster care agency for the state, said local initiatives include hiring a specialist to make sure parental consents are in place when a doctor prescribes psychotropic medications.
“We don’t want to miss a beat on this issue. It is too critical to the life of a child,” Babiez said.
29,225 petition signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
From:
To: "Psych News"
Subject: Florida Tightening Psych Drug Rules
Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 11:21:33 -0400
George Sheldon - Secretary of the Florida Department
of Children and Families
Daytona Beach News Journal
DCF tightening medicine rules
By DEBORAH CIRCELLI
May 14, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH — A bill that would have ensured tighter controls on administering psychotropic drugs to foster children failed to pass this legislative session, but the head of the state Department of Children & Families is moving forward with rules he says will ensure children are safe.
George Sheldon, secretary for the state Department of Children & Families, who was in town Thursday afternoon to attend community meetings on the department’s future strategic plan, said the bill not passing was a “major failure” on the part of the Legislature.
A work group made 90 recommendations following the April 2009 death of a South Florida foster child, Gabriel Myers, 7, who was prescribed several mind-altering drugs and hanged himself in his foster home.
Some of the recommendations included hiring a chief medical officer to monitor the prescribing of such medications, which Sheldon plans to move forward with using other funds.
By July 1, he said, operating procedures also will be in place to ensure every child on psychotropic medications has a guardian; to prohibit any foster child from being a part of any clinical trials; and to make sure every child is informed of the side effects, to name a few.
Psychotropic medications are drugs used for psychiatric reasons such as mood stabilizers, stimulants and drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
A database also will be in place to allow DCF to monitor any “red flag” cases where a child is on more than two psychotropic medications at the same time, he said.
“I’m unwilling to have Gabriel Myers’ death be in vain,” Sheldon said in an interview Thursday.
Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, who was honored at a community meeting Thursday for her work over the years for social services, said she was “very disappointed” the bill did not pass and that it “is an issue that must be dealt with in our state.”
The work group criticized DCF in the review of Gabriel’s death and raised concerns in some cases that the drugs have been used to control foster children’s behaviors.
Statewide as of May 7, according to DCF records, 14.6 percent or 2,724 foster children are on one or more prescriptions for psychotropic medications, with 122 or 14.8 percent locally.
Bill Babiez, CEO of Community Partnership for Children, the local foster care agency for the state, said local initiatives include hiring a specialist to make sure parental consents are in place when a doctor prescribes psychotropic medications.
“We don’t want to miss a beat on this issue. It is too critical to the life of a child,” Babiez said.
29,225 petition signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Utah Sues Antipsychotic Drug Makers
Psych News
Utah Sues Antipsychotic Drug Makers
By Ken Kramer records@psychsearch.net
May 4, 2010
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sued the makers of Risperdal and
Seroquel yesterday in the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County, Utah.
Shurtleff sued Janssen and AstraZeneca over the “wrongful and illegal marketing,
sale and promotion of the atypical antipsychotics risperidone (known as Risperdal)
and quetiapine (known as Seroquel).”
The lawsuit says that Janssen and AstraZeneca knew or should have known but failed
to warn and misled the FDA and the State of Utah regarding Rispderdal’s and Seroquel’s
association with the development of diabetes, diabetes-related conditions, including weight
gain and other serious,even life thereatening medical conditions.
See the lawsuit here: Utah Risperdal Seroquel Lawsuit
29,201 petition signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Utah Sues Antipsychotic Drug Makers
By Ken Kramer records@psychsearch.net
May 4, 2010
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sued the makers of Risperdal and
Seroquel yesterday in the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County, Utah.
Shurtleff sued Janssen and AstraZeneca over the “wrongful and illegal marketing,
sale and promotion of the atypical antipsychotics risperidone (known as Risperdal)
and quetiapine (known as Seroquel).”
The lawsuit says that Janssen and AstraZeneca knew or should have known but failed
to warn and misled the FDA and the State of Utah regarding Rispderdal’s and Seroquel’s
association with the development of diabetes, diabetes-related conditions, including weight
gain and other serious,even life thereatening medical conditions.
See the lawsuit here: Utah Risperdal Seroquel Lawsuit
29,201 petition signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Florida suspends Miami psychiatrist in boy’s overdose death
Miami Herald
Florida suspends Miami psychiatrist in boy’s overdose death
State health administrators have suspended the license of a Miami psychiatrist who treated a disabled preteen boy who died of overmedication.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
May 13, 2010
State regulators have suspended the license of a South Florida psychiatrist who has treated hundreds of poor and disabled children, saying Dr. Steven L. Kaplan poses “an immediate, serious danger to the health, safely, or welfare of the public.”
In an emergency order, Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros issued an emergency suspension of Kaplan’s license, saying Kaplan committed “medical malpractice” in his treatment of 12-year-old Denis Maltez, a boy with autism who medical examiners ruled died of an overdose of mental health drugs.
Viamonte Ros’ order comes three weeks after another state department, the Agency for Health Care Administration, booted Kaplan from the state Medicaid program, the insurer for needy and disabled children that had paid many of Kaplan’s bills. Kaplan’s termination from the Medicaid program is effective May 17.
Kaplan, who has yet to file a response to the suspension, did not return three calls Wednesday from a Herald reporter seeking comment. It’s unclear how long the suspension would span.
The suspension of Kaplan’s license takes effect immediately. Kaplan has 30 days to appeal the order, said Eulinda Smith, a Department of Health spokeswoman, and the department has 20 days to initiate disciplinary proceedings by filing a complaint with a Board of Medicine probable-cause panel — which must make a recommendation for discipline to be imposed.
“Dr. Kaplan’s actions in treating Patient DM demonstrate his inability and/or unwillingness to practice medicine in such a way that adequately protects patients who may not be able to protect themselves,” the suspension order states.
The order adds: “Dr. Kaplan’s actions demonstrate such general lack of medical judgment and understanding of his role as a physician that the safety of the public cannot be ensured by any means other than the suspension of Dr. Kaplan’s license.”
Kaplan was the subject of a front-page story in The Miami Herald on April 19 that focused on the May 23, 2007, death of Denis, who weighed 70 pounds but had been prescribed the maximum adult doses of two powerful anti-psychotic drugs.
The Herald reported that the psychiatrist had for years ignored warnings — both in writing and during office visits from state regulators — that his excessive prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children was potentially dangerous.
Kaplan “said he did not find the time to deal with non-important things such as paperwork,” an expert from the University of South Florida sent to Kaplan’s office on May 15, 2009, wrote in a report. “He said he had been practicing long enough to know how to treat his patients and was tired of being told what to do.”
Viamonte Ros’ May 7 order deals primarily with Kaplan’s treatment of Denis, whose autism sometimes resulted in disruptive outbursts. Acting on the advice of state disability administrators, Denis’ mother, Martha Quesada, placed him in a Miami group home called Rainbow Ranch — which regulators shut down in 2007.
According to the order, executed by the state Department of Health:
• Kaplan failed to perform a physical examination of the boy, failed to develop a treatment plan, failed to document the boy’s mental health history and did not conduct a psychiatric assessment.
• Kaplan “made no attempt” to verify information given to him by Rainbow Ranch’s owner that Denis had been abandoned by his mother, and never sought her consent to treat the boy. “Dr. Kaplan unreasonably relied solely on the reports of a virtually unknown non-health care provider for information regarding [Denis'] complex condition and care.”
• Kaplan did not perform blood tests to ensure that Denis was not being harmed by the mental health drugs he prescribed — assuming, instead, that the tests were being done by Denis’ pediatrician. The pediatrician saw Denis only twice a year, and the necessary blood work was never done.
• Though reviewers with the University of South Florida warned Kaplan on July 24, 2006, that his prescribing of mental-health drugs to four children, including Denis, was problematic, “Kaplan did not respond to the notice, nor did he follow-up with [Denis] through laboratory testing, communication with [Denis'] former psychiatrists, or further assessment.”
• Kaplan insisted that he saw Denis in his office on a couple of occasions, but he had no records to document the office visits.
“Dr. Kaplan fell below the standard of care when when he documented only two visits of this patient over a year’s course of treatment,” the order says, noting that Kaplan had, on one occasion in January 2007, written 11 refills for mental-health drugs for Denis.
The Department of Health began an investigation of Kaplan in November 2009, when the agency received a complaint that his treatment of Denis fell “below the standard of care.” Details of the investigation were forwarded to an unnamed department medical expert for review, the order says.
The expert, the order says, agreed that Kaplan’s treatment fell below accepted practices in a host of areas, including record-keeping, conducting a physical exam, medication prescribing, diagnosis and patient care.
“A review of [Denis'] Rainbow Ranch records demonstrates that DM was being mismanaged physically at the ranch, and if Dr. Kaplan had engaged in appropriate and close follow up, it would be reasonable to infer that Dr. Kaplan would have noticed and reported it,” the order states.
Quoting from the agency’s expert, the report added: “A patient that is as medically and psychiatrically complicated as this patient needed to be followed.”
“Dr. Kaplan has demonstrated a disregard for the duties and responsibilities imposed upon a physician practicing in the state of Florida and for the health and welfare of Patient DM,” the order says.
“Dr. Kaplan’s conduct constitutes a breach of the trust and confidence that the state of Florida placed in him by issuing him a license to practice medicine.”
“This breach is particularly compelling in Dr. Kaplan’s case because his failure to meet the standard of care and failureto adequately document justification for his treatment occurred while practicing medicine and treating a vulnerable patient who did not have the ability to ensure his own well-being.”
29,224 petition signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Florida suspends Miami psychiatrist in boy’s overdose death
State health administrators have suspended the license of a Miami psychiatrist who treated a disabled preteen boy who died of overmedication.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
May 13, 2010
State regulators have suspended the license of a South Florida psychiatrist who has treated hundreds of poor and disabled children, saying Dr. Steven L. Kaplan poses “an immediate, serious danger to the health, safely, or welfare of the public.”
In an emergency order, Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros issued an emergency suspension of Kaplan’s license, saying Kaplan committed “medical malpractice” in his treatment of 12-year-old Denis Maltez, a boy with autism who medical examiners ruled died of an overdose of mental health drugs.
Viamonte Ros’ order comes three weeks after another state department, the Agency for Health Care Administration, booted Kaplan from the state Medicaid program, the insurer for needy and disabled children that had paid many of Kaplan’s bills. Kaplan’s termination from the Medicaid program is effective May 17.
Kaplan, who has yet to file a response to the suspension, did not return three calls Wednesday from a Herald reporter seeking comment. It’s unclear how long the suspension would span.
The suspension of Kaplan’s license takes effect immediately. Kaplan has 30 days to appeal the order, said Eulinda Smith, a Department of Health spokeswoman, and the department has 20 days to initiate disciplinary proceedings by filing a complaint with a Board of Medicine probable-cause panel — which must make a recommendation for discipline to be imposed.
“Dr. Kaplan’s actions in treating Patient DM demonstrate his inability and/or unwillingness to practice medicine in such a way that adequately protects patients who may not be able to protect themselves,” the suspension order states.
The order adds: “Dr. Kaplan’s actions demonstrate such general lack of medical judgment and understanding of his role as a physician that the safety of the public cannot be ensured by any means other than the suspension of Dr. Kaplan’s license.”
Kaplan was the subject of a front-page story in The Miami Herald on April 19 that focused on the May 23, 2007, death of Denis, who weighed 70 pounds but had been prescribed the maximum adult doses of two powerful anti-psychotic drugs.
The Herald reported that the psychiatrist had for years ignored warnings — both in writing and during office visits from state regulators — that his excessive prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children was potentially dangerous.
Kaplan “said he did not find the time to deal with non-important things such as paperwork,” an expert from the University of South Florida sent to Kaplan’s office on May 15, 2009, wrote in a report. “He said he had been practicing long enough to know how to treat his patients and was tired of being told what to do.”
Viamonte Ros’ May 7 order deals primarily with Kaplan’s treatment of Denis, whose autism sometimes resulted in disruptive outbursts. Acting on the advice of state disability administrators, Denis’ mother, Martha Quesada, placed him in a Miami group home called Rainbow Ranch — which regulators shut down in 2007.
According to the order, executed by the state Department of Health:
• Kaplan failed to perform a physical examination of the boy, failed to develop a treatment plan, failed to document the boy’s mental health history and did not conduct a psychiatric assessment.
• Kaplan “made no attempt” to verify information given to him by Rainbow Ranch’s owner that Denis had been abandoned by his mother, and never sought her consent to treat the boy. “Dr. Kaplan unreasonably relied solely on the reports of a virtually unknown non-health care provider for information regarding [Denis'] complex condition and care.”
• Kaplan did not perform blood tests to ensure that Denis was not being harmed by the mental health drugs he prescribed — assuming, instead, that the tests were being done by Denis’ pediatrician. The pediatrician saw Denis only twice a year, and the necessary blood work was never done.
• Though reviewers with the University of South Florida warned Kaplan on July 24, 2006, that his prescribing of mental-health drugs to four children, including Denis, was problematic, “Kaplan did not respond to the notice, nor did he follow-up with [Denis] through laboratory testing, communication with [Denis'] former psychiatrists, or further assessment.”
• Kaplan insisted that he saw Denis in his office on a couple of occasions, but he had no records to document the office visits.
“Dr. Kaplan fell below the standard of care when when he documented only two visits of this patient over a year’s course of treatment,” the order says, noting that Kaplan had, on one occasion in January 2007, written 11 refills for mental-health drugs for Denis.
The Department of Health began an investigation of Kaplan in November 2009, when the agency received a complaint that his treatment of Denis fell “below the standard of care.” Details of the investigation were forwarded to an unnamed department medical expert for review, the order says.
The expert, the order says, agreed that Kaplan’s treatment fell below accepted practices in a host of areas, including record-keeping, conducting a physical exam, medication prescribing, diagnosis and patient care.
“A review of [Denis'] Rainbow Ranch records demonstrates that DM was being mismanaged physically at the ranch, and if Dr. Kaplan had engaged in appropriate and close follow up, it would be reasonable to infer that Dr. Kaplan would have noticed and reported it,” the order states.
Quoting from the agency’s expert, the report added: “A patient that is as medically and psychiatrically complicated as this patient needed to be followed.”
“Dr. Kaplan has demonstrated a disregard for the duties and responsibilities imposed upon a physician practicing in the state of Florida and for the health and welfare of Patient DM,” the order says.
“Dr. Kaplan’s conduct constitutes a breach of the trust and confidence that the state of Florida placed in him by issuing him a license to practice medicine.”
“This breach is particularly compelling in Dr. Kaplan’s case because his failure to meet the standard of care and failureto adequately document justification for his treatment occurred while practicing medicine and treating a vulnerable patient who did not have the ability to ensure his own well-being.”
29,224 petition signatures http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY
Incompatible With Life? Some Children Die in Abortions, But Bella is Now Two
Incompatible With Life? Some Children Die in Abortions, But Bella is Now Two
by Rick Santorum
May 5, 2010
LifeNews.com Note: Rick Santorum represented Pennsylvania as a member of the House and then the Senate. He was the sponsor of the partial-birth abortion ban and is widely considered one of the pro-life leaders in Congress during his tenure. He is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
"Incompatible with life." The doctor's words kept echoing in my head as I held my sobbing wife, Karen, just four days after the birth of our eighth child, Isabella Maria.
Bella was born with three No. 18 chromosomes, rather than the normal two. The statistics were heartbreaking: About 90 percent of children with the disorder, known as trisomy 18, die before or during birth, and 90 percent of those who survive die within the first year.
Bella was baptized that day, and then we spent every waking hour at her bedside, giving her a lifetime's worth of love and care. However, not only did she not die; she came home in just 10 days.
She was sent home on hospice care, strange as that sounded for a newborn. The hospice doctor visited us the next day and described in graphic detail how Bella would die. In sum, she could die at any time without warning, and the best we could hope for was that she would die of the common cold.
Karen and I discontinued hospice so that we and our amazing doctors, James Baugh and Sunil Kapoor, could get to work focusing on Bella's health, not her death.
Like so many moms of special kids, Karen is a warrior, caring for Bella night and day and, at times, fighting with health-care providers and our insurance company to get our daughter the care she needs.
Being the parent of a special child gives one exceptional insight into the negative perception of the disabled among many medical professionals, particularly when they see your child as having an intellectual disability. Sadly, we discovered that not only did we have to search for doctors who had experience with trisomy 18. We also had to search for those who saw Bella not as a fatal diagnosis, but as a wanted and loved daughter and sister, as well as a beautiful gift from God.
We knew from experience that Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was such a place. Fourteen years ago, we had another baby who was diagnosed as having no hope, but CHOP's Dr. Scott Adzick gave him a shot at life. In the end, we lost our son Gabriel, but we will always be grateful to Dr. Adzick for affirming the value of his life.
When Bella was 3 months old, she needed some minor but vital surgery. Some doctors told us that a child like Bella wouldn't survive surgery or, even worse, that surgery was "not recommended" because of her genetic condition - in other words, that her life wasn't worth saving. So we again turned to the Children's Hospital and found compassion, concern, and hope in Dr. Thane Blinman. He told us he had several trisomy 18 patients who did well - and so did Bella.
Next week, we will mark Bella's second birthday. Over these two years, we have endured two close brushes with death, lots of sleepless nights, more than a month in CHOP's intensive care unit, and the constant anxiety that the next day could be our little girl's last.
And yet we have also been inspired - by her fighting spirit, and by the miracle of seeing our little flower blossom into a loving, joyful child who is at the center of our family life.
Most children with trisomy 18 diagnosed in the womb are aborted. Most who survive birth are given hospice care until they die. In these cases, doctors advise parents that these disabled children will die young or be a burden to them and society. But couldn't the same be said of many healthy children?
All children are a gift that comes with no guarantees. While Bella's life may not be long, and though she requires our constant care, she is worth every tear.
Living with Bella has been a course in character and virtue. She makes us better. And it's not just our family; she enriches every life she touches. In the end, isn't that what every parent hopes for his or her child?
Happy birthday, Isabella!
http://www.lifenews.com/state5074.html
by Rick Santorum
May 5, 2010
LifeNews.com Note: Rick Santorum represented Pennsylvania as a member of the House and then the Senate. He was the sponsor of the partial-birth abortion ban and is widely considered one of the pro-life leaders in Congress during his tenure. He is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
"Incompatible with life." The doctor's words kept echoing in my head as I held my sobbing wife, Karen, just four days after the birth of our eighth child, Isabella Maria.
Bella was born with three No. 18 chromosomes, rather than the normal two. The statistics were heartbreaking: About 90 percent of children with the disorder, known as trisomy 18, die before or during birth, and 90 percent of those who survive die within the first year.
Bella was baptized that day, and then we spent every waking hour at her bedside, giving her a lifetime's worth of love and care. However, not only did she not die; she came home in just 10 days.
She was sent home on hospice care, strange as that sounded for a newborn. The hospice doctor visited us the next day and described in graphic detail how Bella would die. In sum, she could die at any time without warning, and the best we could hope for was that she would die of the common cold.
Karen and I discontinued hospice so that we and our amazing doctors, James Baugh and Sunil Kapoor, could get to work focusing on Bella's health, not her death.
Like so many moms of special kids, Karen is a warrior, caring for Bella night and day and, at times, fighting with health-care providers and our insurance company to get our daughter the care she needs.
Being the parent of a special child gives one exceptional insight into the negative perception of the disabled among many medical professionals, particularly when they see your child as having an intellectual disability. Sadly, we discovered that not only did we have to search for doctors who had experience with trisomy 18. We also had to search for those who saw Bella not as a fatal diagnosis, but as a wanted and loved daughter and sister, as well as a beautiful gift from God.
We knew from experience that Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was such a place. Fourteen years ago, we had another baby who was diagnosed as having no hope, but CHOP's Dr. Scott Adzick gave him a shot at life. In the end, we lost our son Gabriel, but we will always be grateful to Dr. Adzick for affirming the value of his life.
When Bella was 3 months old, she needed some minor but vital surgery. Some doctors told us that a child like Bella wouldn't survive surgery or, even worse, that surgery was "not recommended" because of her genetic condition - in other words, that her life wasn't worth saving. So we again turned to the Children's Hospital and found compassion, concern, and hope in Dr. Thane Blinman. He told us he had several trisomy 18 patients who did well - and so did Bella.
Next week, we will mark Bella's second birthday. Over these two years, we have endured two close brushes with death, lots of sleepless nights, more than a month in CHOP's intensive care unit, and the constant anxiety that the next day could be our little girl's last.
And yet we have also been inspired - by her fighting spirit, and by the miracle of seeing our little flower blossom into a loving, joyful child who is at the center of our family life.
Most children with trisomy 18 diagnosed in the womb are aborted. Most who survive birth are given hospice care until they die. In these cases, doctors advise parents that these disabled children will die young or be a burden to them and society. But couldn't the same be said of many healthy children?
All children are a gift that comes with no guarantees. While Bella's life may not be long, and though she requires our constant care, she is worth every tear.
Living with Bella has been a course in character and virtue. She makes us better. And it's not just our family; she enriches every life she touches. In the end, isn't that what every parent hopes for his or her child?
Happy birthday, Isabella!
http://www.lifenews.com/state5074.html
State Wants to Close Philadelphia Center Where Woman Died in Botched Abortion
State Wants to Close Philadelphia Center Where Woman Died in Botched Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 5, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- State officials in Pennsylvania want to close the abortion center run by abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell, who is under investigation following the death of a woman in a botched abortion. They say Gosnell has not responded to the charges even though his abortion center is temporarily closed and his license revoked.
Authorities have been probing the Women's Medical Society after an abortion patient died last November.
Massive amounts of drugs found in the victim's system led authorities to suspect Gosnell was illegally prescribing pain-killers. He lost his medical license in both Pennsylvania and neighboring Delaware.
In March, the Pennsylvania Department of Health found the abortion center had violated more than a dozen health and safety laws ranging from a lack of equipment and drugs for emergency resuscitation to not having a way to get patients to a hospital or a backup physician.
The Philadelphia Inquirer indicates Gosnell also delayed the report to the state concerning the woman who died in the failed abortion. He had until April 12 to respond to the charges but has failed to do so, and missed an extension taking him to April 30.
Last month, the newspaper says his attorney, Philadelphia lawyer William J. Brennan, said "we're in the process of reviewing the counts, and we'll address them in the appropriate time frame."
But yesterday, Brennan told the Inquirer he only is representing Gosnell regarding criminal matters and not anything related to the charges the health department brought up.
As a result, the state health department has asked a judge to declare Gosnell guilty by default and Pennsylvania health department spokeswoman Stacy Kriedem told the paper Gosnell is scheduled for a May 20 disciplinary hearing where he could lose his medical license permanently.
Last month, federal agents from the FBI raided Gosnell's home and seized boxes of documents and removed them. Also, FBI agents executed a second search warrant at the now-closed Women's Medical Society abortion center.
That was the second time officials raided his abortion business -- and they did so first on February 18.
They found what amounted to a "house of horrors" -- including collection jars containing the remains of pre-born babies dating back 30 years along with filthy and unsafe conditions and evidence that unlicensed workers had been illegally treating patients.
The office has no access for a stretcher in the case of an emergency. In previous emergencies, care was delayed because exit doors were padlocked shut or blocked with debris from the clinic.
A deficiency report noted that the only source of suction for patients with airway tubes was the same suction machine used for abortions. Filthy and unsanitary conditions were also cited.
After suspending his medical license, the Pennsylvania State Health Department has filed documents in Commonwealth Court to prevent any other abortionist from operating in Gosnell's unsafe abortion facility.
Gosnell has a long history of dangerous practices dating back nearly 40 years.
He was responsible for the death of Semika Shirelle Shaw in 2000, who died from a perforated uterus sustained during an abortion. Gosnell has been sued over 40 times for numerous botched abortions and other troubles.
"The story of Gosnell's appalling abortion operation makes us wonder how many other abortionists like him are out there preying on vulnerable women," Operation Rescue president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com. "From our own investigations into the abortion industry, we have yet to find an abortionist who is in full compliance with the law."
"Because the abortion business draws practitioners from the bottom of the barrel, abortion presents a serious danger to women in this country. If the laws currently on the books were enforced, most abortion clinics in this country would be forced to close. The Gosnell story is a case in point," he said.
When Gosnell lost his Delaware license, he also agreed to stop distributing controlled substances and he waived his right to a board hearing normally scheduled for within 60 days.
"Based upon the severity of the violations alleged in the complaint, and based upon the suspension of Dr. Gosnell's license in the state of Pennsylvania, we have concluded that the suspension of Dr. Gosnell's license to practice medicine in Delaware is necessary to protect the public until we can fully hear the matter," Raymond L. Moore Sr., the president of the Board of Medical Practice, said according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
Pennsylvania officials suspect Karnamaya Mongar died from the botched abortion in part because she had been treated by unlicensed personnel.
The State Board of Medicine says Gosnell had the unlicensed staff member give vaginal exams and administer the drugs Demerol, Promethazine and Diazepam. He was eventually fined $1,000 for the violations.
Records from 1995 show Gosnell was publicly reprimanded by the State Licensing Board which found he ''employed a physician's assistant that was not certified ... saw at least one patient and treated him."
Yet, Gosnell told a local television station recently, "I haven't seen a negative comment that a patient has been dissatisfied with the services that I have provided."
But former patient Dayna Haynes, who suffered a botched, incomplete abortion and had to wait hours for proper medical care, had something else to say about that on camera.
"I really felt like he was just going to let me die," she said.
After a report showed Gosnell a stack of 40 lawsuits against him over the years, he responded: "If you're not making mistakes, you are not really attempting to do something."
http://www.lifenews.com/state5075.html
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 5, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- State officials in Pennsylvania want to close the abortion center run by abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell, who is under investigation following the death of a woman in a botched abortion. They say Gosnell has not responded to the charges even though his abortion center is temporarily closed and his license revoked.
Authorities have been probing the Women's Medical Society after an abortion patient died last November.
Massive amounts of drugs found in the victim's system led authorities to suspect Gosnell was illegally prescribing pain-killers. He lost his medical license in both Pennsylvania and neighboring Delaware.
In March, the Pennsylvania Department of Health found the abortion center had violated more than a dozen health and safety laws ranging from a lack of equipment and drugs for emergency resuscitation to not having a way to get patients to a hospital or a backup physician.
The Philadelphia Inquirer indicates Gosnell also delayed the report to the state concerning the woman who died in the failed abortion. He had until April 12 to respond to the charges but has failed to do so, and missed an extension taking him to April 30.
Last month, the newspaper says his attorney, Philadelphia lawyer William J. Brennan, said "we're in the process of reviewing the counts, and we'll address them in the appropriate time frame."
But yesterday, Brennan told the Inquirer he only is representing Gosnell regarding criminal matters and not anything related to the charges the health department brought up.
As a result, the state health department has asked a judge to declare Gosnell guilty by default and Pennsylvania health department spokeswoman Stacy Kriedem told the paper Gosnell is scheduled for a May 20 disciplinary hearing where he could lose his medical license permanently.
Last month, federal agents from the FBI raided Gosnell's home and seized boxes of documents and removed them. Also, FBI agents executed a second search warrant at the now-closed Women's Medical Society abortion center.
That was the second time officials raided his abortion business -- and they did so first on February 18.
They found what amounted to a "house of horrors" -- including collection jars containing the remains of pre-born babies dating back 30 years along with filthy and unsafe conditions and evidence that unlicensed workers had been illegally treating patients.
The office has no access for a stretcher in the case of an emergency. In previous emergencies, care was delayed because exit doors were padlocked shut or blocked with debris from the clinic.
A deficiency report noted that the only source of suction for patients with airway tubes was the same suction machine used for abortions. Filthy and unsanitary conditions were also cited.
After suspending his medical license, the Pennsylvania State Health Department has filed documents in Commonwealth Court to prevent any other abortionist from operating in Gosnell's unsafe abortion facility.
Gosnell has a long history of dangerous practices dating back nearly 40 years.
He was responsible for the death of Semika Shirelle Shaw in 2000, who died from a perforated uterus sustained during an abortion. Gosnell has been sued over 40 times for numerous botched abortions and other troubles.
"The story of Gosnell's appalling abortion operation makes us wonder how many other abortionists like him are out there preying on vulnerable women," Operation Rescue president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com. "From our own investigations into the abortion industry, we have yet to find an abortionist who is in full compliance with the law."
"Because the abortion business draws practitioners from the bottom of the barrel, abortion presents a serious danger to women in this country. If the laws currently on the books were enforced, most abortion clinics in this country would be forced to close. The Gosnell story is a case in point," he said.
When Gosnell lost his Delaware license, he also agreed to stop distributing controlled substances and he waived his right to a board hearing normally scheduled for within 60 days.
"Based upon the severity of the violations alleged in the complaint, and based upon the suspension of Dr. Gosnell's license in the state of Pennsylvania, we have concluded that the suspension of Dr. Gosnell's license to practice medicine in Delaware is necessary to protect the public until we can fully hear the matter," Raymond L. Moore Sr., the president of the Board of Medical Practice, said according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
Pennsylvania officials suspect Karnamaya Mongar died from the botched abortion in part because she had been treated by unlicensed personnel.
The State Board of Medicine says Gosnell had the unlicensed staff member give vaginal exams and administer the drugs Demerol, Promethazine and Diazepam. He was eventually fined $1,000 for the violations.
Records from 1995 show Gosnell was publicly reprimanded by the State Licensing Board which found he ''employed a physician's assistant that was not certified ... saw at least one patient and treated him."
Yet, Gosnell told a local television station recently, "I haven't seen a negative comment that a patient has been dissatisfied with the services that I have provided."
But former patient Dayna Haynes, who suffered a botched, incomplete abortion and had to wait hours for proper medical care, had something else to say about that on camera.
"I really felt like he was just going to let me die," she said.
After a report showed Gosnell a stack of 40 lawsuits against him over the years, he responded: "If you're not making mistakes, you are not really attempting to do something."
http://www.lifenews.com/state5075.html
Abortion Business in Kentucky Hides Potential Sexual Abuse in Undercover Video
Abortion Business in Kentucky Hides Potential Sexual Abuse in Undercover Video
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 21, 2010
Louisville, KY (LifeNews.com) -- Another abortion business has been caught on tape attempting to cover up a potential case of sexual abuse of a minor girl. A Louisville, Kentucky abortion center is the latest caught on an undercover videotape ignoring sexual abuse of a child and giving misleading abortion counseling.
Live Action, a pro-life group led by college students, released another in a long line of videos showing problems at Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers nationwide.
The new footage today comes from EMW Women's Surgical Center and has Lila Rose and actor Jackie Stollar, who posed undercover as a minor with Rose telling the staff that she was 14-years-old and impregnated by her 31-year-old "boyfriend".
In the video, an EMW Women's Surgical Center named Wendy determines that Rose is "14 to 15-weeks pregnant" and that an abortion at that point in pregnancy would cost over $1,000.
Rose tells the abortion counselor she wants to keep the situation secret from her parents.
Though Rose gave no indication she would face abusive parents if she informed them of her pregnancy, the abortion center directs Rose to call Louisville attorney Mickey Adams so she can obtain a judicial bypass around Kentucky's parental consent law.
"The only way you can get away without having a parent with you, is, there is an attorney here in town. Her name is Mickey Adams. And she would take you in front of a judge for you to obtain a judicial bypass," Wendy says.
Judicial bypass provisions are meant to allow teenagers in potentially abusive situations to get out of the parental involvement-before-abortion law but abortion centers routinely employ pro-abortion attorneys to get teens around the requirement.
The video shows that, even though the counselor later calls Adams on the phone, the abortion center failed to ask the questions necessary to file a child sexual abuse report and did not communicate to Rose about the illegal or dangerous nature of her sexual relationship.
The abortion counselor tells the supposed minor that it won't be a "big deal" to get the judicial bypass.
Kentucky state law also indicates sex between a 14-year-old and a 31-year-old is rape in the third degree. Rose said the state law reveals such sexual activity would reasonably be considered sexual abuse of a child which must be reported to law enforcement immediately.
Rose said she is disappointed by the actions of the EMW Women's Surgical Center abortion counselor.
"In abortion clinics across the country, our undercover videos document the widespread cover up of sexual abuse. Abortion clinics like EMW in Louisville center attempt to fast track underage abortions on vulnerable girls, shut out parents, and blatantly ignore their legal obligation to report the sex predator to police," she told LifeNews.com.
Live Action has previously released videos of statutory rape cover-up at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in various cities in Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, California, Arizona and Wisconsin.
Responding to the concerns in Alabama, the Alabama Health Department placed the Birmingham clinic on probation after conducting its own investigation and finding further violations. Rose urges officials in Kentucky to follow suit.
"State authorities need to investigate this Louisville abortion clinic and hold them accountable to the law," Rose insists. "Until they do, young girls will be put at risk of continued sexual abuse."
A similar video released in December from an Appleton, Wisconsin abortion center prompted state senator Glenn Grothman to call for an investigation of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Also, two embryologists denounced Planned Parenthood's counseling, calling it "absurd and scientifically erroneous."
Live Action also released a video last February catching Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin failing to comply with mandatory reporting laws for the sexual abuse of a 14 year old girl.
Live Action previously highlighted problems at Planned Parenthoods in California, Indiana, Arizona, Tennessee, and Alabama.
Related web sites:
New undercover video - http://liveaction.org/index.php/projects/monalisa/142
Learn about Live Action - http://liveaction.org
http://www.lifenews.com/state5007.html
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 21, 2010
Louisville, KY (LifeNews.com) -- Another abortion business has been caught on tape attempting to cover up a potential case of sexual abuse of a minor girl. A Louisville, Kentucky abortion center is the latest caught on an undercover videotape ignoring sexual abuse of a child and giving misleading abortion counseling.
Live Action, a pro-life group led by college students, released another in a long line of videos showing problems at Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers nationwide.
The new footage today comes from EMW Women's Surgical Center and has Lila Rose and actor Jackie Stollar, who posed undercover as a minor with Rose telling the staff that she was 14-years-old and impregnated by her 31-year-old "boyfriend".
In the video, an EMW Women's Surgical Center named Wendy determines that Rose is "14 to 15-weeks pregnant" and that an abortion at that point in pregnancy would cost over $1,000.
Rose tells the abortion counselor she wants to keep the situation secret from her parents.
Though Rose gave no indication she would face abusive parents if she informed them of her pregnancy, the abortion center directs Rose to call Louisville attorney Mickey Adams so she can obtain a judicial bypass around Kentucky's parental consent law.
"The only way you can get away without having a parent with you, is, there is an attorney here in town. Her name is Mickey Adams. And she would take you in front of a judge for you to obtain a judicial bypass," Wendy says.
Judicial bypass provisions are meant to allow teenagers in potentially abusive situations to get out of the parental involvement-before-abortion law but abortion centers routinely employ pro-abortion attorneys to get teens around the requirement.
The video shows that, even though the counselor later calls Adams on the phone, the abortion center failed to ask the questions necessary to file a child sexual abuse report and did not communicate to Rose about the illegal or dangerous nature of her sexual relationship.
The abortion counselor tells the supposed minor that it won't be a "big deal" to get the judicial bypass.
Kentucky state law also indicates sex between a 14-year-old and a 31-year-old is rape in the third degree. Rose said the state law reveals such sexual activity would reasonably be considered sexual abuse of a child which must be reported to law enforcement immediately.
Rose said she is disappointed by the actions of the EMW Women's Surgical Center abortion counselor.
"In abortion clinics across the country, our undercover videos document the widespread cover up of sexual abuse. Abortion clinics like EMW in Louisville center attempt to fast track underage abortions on vulnerable girls, shut out parents, and blatantly ignore their legal obligation to report the sex predator to police," she told LifeNews.com.
Live Action has previously released videos of statutory rape cover-up at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in various cities in Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, California, Arizona and Wisconsin.
Responding to the concerns in Alabama, the Alabama Health Department placed the Birmingham clinic on probation after conducting its own investigation and finding further violations. Rose urges officials in Kentucky to follow suit.
"State authorities need to investigate this Louisville abortion clinic and hold them accountable to the law," Rose insists. "Until they do, young girls will be put at risk of continued sexual abuse."
A similar video released in December from an Appleton, Wisconsin abortion center prompted state senator Glenn Grothman to call for an investigation of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Also, two embryologists denounced Planned Parenthood's counseling, calling it "absurd and scientifically erroneous."
Live Action also released a video last February catching Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin failing to comply with mandatory reporting laws for the sexual abuse of a 14 year old girl.
Live Action previously highlighted problems at Planned Parenthoods in California, Indiana, Arizona, Tennessee, and Alabama.
Related web sites:
New undercover video - http://liveaction.org/index.php/projects/monalisa/142
Learn about Live Action - http://liveaction.org
http://www.lifenews.com/state5007.html
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