10-year-old girl goes to Indiana for abortion
Suing to prevent AG Todd Rokita from using “frivolous” consumer complaints as justification for subpoenaing private medical data, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist who has been in limelight this year due to his stance on abortion has filed suit.
the lawsuit filed by Dr. Caitlin Bernard and Dr. Amy Caldwell alleges that Rokita’s office received subpoenas for medical data of patients who never submitted concerns to the attorney general’s office. Bernard gained national notoriety after telling IndyStar she administered an abortion to a ten-year-old rape victim.
An early draft of the lawsuit supplied to IndyStar states that his actions violate “several Indiana legislation” and request that a Marion County judge cease his inquiry.
Attorneys for the two doctors said, “The Attorney General has disregarded the necessity to ascertain that consumer complaints have merit before he may investigate and has instead utilized facially flawed grievances to justify repetitive, overbroad, and overboard investigation against law-abiding physicians.”
IndyStar has contacted Rokita’s office.
Bernard’s attorney Kathleen DeLaney got a letter from Rokita’s office concerning a probe into customer dissatisfaction against the doctor months before the lawsuit. Delaney has called the accusations “riddled with errors and depend on no first-hand information.”
Rokita’s office was sought for information about the concern by IndyStar. These petitions were refused in September, but Bernard and Caldwell’s complaint filed on Thursday describes what some of them stated.
The proceeding claims that between July 8 and July 12, seven customers of Barnard’s complained to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
After IndyStar article in the 10-year-old patient went viral, his attorneys said they were introduced by others who had read or seen news reports about Barnard. No one claimed Barnard or Caldwell provided them with medical treatment.
The majority of the complaints “were submitted by persons who do not claim to live in Indiana,” the suit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, Barnard “kept the details of the abuse of ten year old girl from law enforcement.” However, in July, the Indiana Health Department sent IndyStar a copy of a pregnancy abortion report filed by Barnard, confirming that she had notified the miscarriage and warning the state that the ten year old girl was at risk. Abuse was done to the girl.
In yet another complaint, an Ohio resident claimed that Barnard had told the media a fake narrative about a youngster of that age. Chief Justice Dave Yost of Ohio, whom he quoted, cast doubt on Barnard’s narrative as he stated on Fox News that his staff had investigated the incident “The complaint it filed on behalf of the 10-year-old victim was “whispered.” False alarm; nothing was heard.
The complaint said, “As a resident of Ohio, I believe that this misconception has hurt the reputation of my state and it is immoral to injure individuals like myself who have a pro-life position,”
Because of Bernard’s remarks, he “experienced hatred towards me,” he added. If Dr. Bernard continues to harass me in this manner, I will seek legal action for damages.
However, only weeks after IndyStar ran the article on Bernard, authorities in Ohio charged a man with raping a 10-year-old girl. The girl’s pregnancy was reported to police in Columbus, Ohio on June 22 through a referral from the girl’s mother to Franklin County Children’s Services.
Perhaps another accusation concerning Barnard asks the complainant, “What was your first encounter with the person/business?”
According to them, “it was reported in US media and by President Trump.”
Consumer complaints that prompted Dr. Barnard’s “research” were made by people who couldn’t possible have firsthand knowledge of the charges against the company, unable to verify the accuracy of such claims “Thursday’s lawsuit was written by the attorney.
The attorney general’s power to investigate physicians such as Bernard is “deliberately wide and is contained in state and federal law,” according to a prior statement from Rokita’s office.
The representative went on to say that this covers “privacy breaches at the state and federal level,” as well as” consumer complaint concerns” and “jurisdiction over licensed professions, including doctors.”
If a patient has a legitimate complaint about a doctor, Rokita may file a formal complaint with the State Medical Licensing Board. The state’s records show that Bernard has never disciplined. Neither a local nor a fedral court has ever brought charges against him.
