Patient Mary M. sought care from Dr. Stephen Weber on December 20, 1991. Weber performed a biopsy on Mary on January 6, 1992. The report that came back from the lab indicated that there was pregnancy tissue in the specimen.
Weber had an assistant call Marcie on January 16, telling her to come in due to “a problem.” Weber ordered a pregnancy test without telling Marcie. The test showed elevated pregnancy hormone level, but Weber did not think the pregnancy was still viable. He did not order an ultrasound because, he said, “It was a $175 test I did not think was warranted. Weber had Marcie return to the office and told her that he had to remove “tissue that hadn’t passed.” Marcie, still unaware that she was pregnant, consented and underwent a vacuum aspiration procedure. Weber discarded the tissues obtained with the aspiration and sent Marcie home, telling her to return in four days. Marcie began to bleed heavily and went to an emergency room for care. The doctor in the emergency room commented to Marcie about the positive pregnancy test; it was then that Marcie discovered that the D&C she’d submitted to had actually been an unauthorized abortion. Marcie had previously undergone four operations to try to overcome infertility. Weber defended his decision not to inform Marcie of the pregnancy as “an act of compassion.” He reportedly told another doctor “There’s more liability with a damaged pregnancy than with an aborted one.”
(Source: Hartford Courant 5-24-92)
Cited by Christina Dunigan
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