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"Four of 10 sampled patients did not have
a physician present," said Dr. Don Williamson, state health officer. "There were
multiple violations of rules over multiple days."
Besides the woman who went
to a hospital and had a stillborn infant, there were five patients whose records
do not show that a determination was made on fetal viability.
"The rules
require that viability be determined, and that a notation be made in the medical
records," Williamson said. "In five other patients it was not documented."
State law requires that abortion clinics begin testing for fetal viability
in the 20th week.
The State Board of Health issued an emergency order of
license suspension Wednesday against Summit Medical Center of Alabama, 1801 14th
Ave. South. Friday's report included other problems found during an
investigation conducted from April 17 to May 12.
"The complete statement of
deficiencies does highlight the gravity of the situation," Williamson said.
The suspension order said that a patient went to Summit on Feb. 20 and
received an ultrasound administered by a nonphysician in violation of state
rules for such facilities. She was told by a Summit staff member she was six
weeks pregnant.
The same day, the clinic gave her a dose of Mifeprex, or
RU-486, an abortion-inducing drug, also without a physician administering it as
required.
The patient had a "critical and dangerously high" blood pressure
reading of 182/129, the suspension order said.
On Feb. 26, the patient went
to the emergency room at a Birmingham hospital "with the head of a baby
protruding" and delivered a "stillborn, macerated, six pound, four ounce baby,"
according to the suspension order.