OH abortionist being sued again…

“Dr” Harley Blank, 75, the co-owner of Founder’s abortion mill in Columbus, OH, is currently being sued by a 29 year-old former patient, Lacresha Hinton. The patient visited  Blank in 2012 for a surgical abortion.

  

Harley Blank, MD receiving an award from PP

According to the lawsuit, the young woman went to Blank for an abortion. Despite several indications that the woman was experiencing an ectopic pregnancy at her initial consultation, when she returned to the practice three days later she was diagnosed with a uterine pregnancy and Dr. Blank, “went through the motions of an abortion. No abortion was actually done, because the pregnancy was cornual.”

A week later, the patient was rushed to the hospital via an ambulance where she was later found to have a “ruptured cornual pregnancy, right hemoperitoneum, and right hematosalpinx” and anemia due to acute blood loss.  Essentially, the ectopic pregnancy that was ignored did rupture, she had to have both fallopian tubes removed, and she lost a good volume of blood.  This young woman reportedly will never be able to have children.  Please keep her in your prayers.

NB: Scientifically there is no such thing as a “fertilized egg”; once fertilized it becomes an embryo after several cell divisions

In 2013, State of Ohio Dept of Health inspectors again visited Founder’s.  State officials listed fourteen pages of violations of state law.  The violations were documented after state officials reviewed general office practices and reviewed a sample of ten random patient files.  In 2012 there were 2128 patient visits at Founder’s.  Violations include:

• Failure to notify patients that an abortion doctor does not have medical malpractice (in Ohio, a physician is required to have malpractice or notify his or her patients in writing that the physician does not have insurance).
• In 7 out of 10 patient files reviewed, a volunteer without a medical or nursing license administered Cytotec (generically known as misoprostol – a prostaglandin that has abortifacient properties) and prescription-required analgesic.  The volunteer noted that she was a “relative” of one of the “nurses” and had formerly been a LPN until the license lapsed “sometime in the 1980’s.”
• Eight out of 9 medical staff failed to have the appropriate orientation and training on file (note: this was also a citation the year prior in 2011).
• In several instances, there did not exist physician orders for the administration of abortifacient drugs.
• Failure to document who provided IV sedation for one patient.
• Patients discharged “to self” following surgeries – Ohio law requires that a patient who is discharged after surgery be accompanied by a second responsible adult, unless a doctor documents that the individual is safe to go on her own.

ESH is saddened at the reminder that this procedure hurts women every single day, kills their babies and sometimes kills the mother.

This civil lawsuit was filed in December 2013 and has not yet gone to trial (as of January 2014). It is reportedly scheduled for trial assignment on 11/30/15, almost two years from the filing, in what seems justice delayed and justice denied.

Interested readers can follow the case #13 CV 013010 at this link.