Judge orders doctor to stop performing abortions, Medical Board faulted for inaction in death of patient
An administrative law judge has ordered previously disciplined abortionist Dr. Andrew Rutland to immediately stop performing abortions until the California Medical Board decides whether to revoke his license to practice medicine.
Following a hearing in San Diego on Jan. 7, Administrative Law Judge James Ahler ordered Rutland, who has continued performing abortions following the death of a 30-year-old woman following an abortion at a clinic in San Gabriel in August 2009, to limit his practice to procedures other than abortions and delivering babies.
The patient, Ying Chen, went into full cardiac arrest after a second-trimester abortion by Rutland on July 28, 2009 and died six days later at a nearby hospital, where she had been taken by ambulance, according to Medical Board records. Following an injection of the narcotic painkiller Demerol, "a dangerous drug," and the local anesthetic lidocaine, Ying Chen's heart stopped beating, said Medical Board records. An autopsy later revealed that the young woman died from lidocaine toxicity. At the time of Ying Chen's death, Rutland was on five years of probation by the Medical Board from another case in which he had surrendered his license.
The case that led to his earlier probation and license surrender involved the death of two newborns shortly after they had been delivered by Rutland, according to Medical Board records. The Medical Board, however, later reinstated Rutland's license on condition that he not practice medicine unless he was under the supervision of another qualified physician.
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