New York Abortionist Carves Initials into Maternity Patient's Abdomen
By Dave Andrusko
In a case so bizarre it nearly defies description, a flamboyant New York abortionist and obstetrician/ gynecologist has pled not guilty to two counts of first-degree assault, claiming that the reason he carved his initials into the abdomen of one of his patients after delivering her child by Caesarean section was because his judgment was impaired by a brain disease.
Dr. Liana Gedz, the patient, is suing Allan Zarkin, the Beth Israel Medical Center, and Zarkin's former medical practice for $5.5 million. Dr. Gedz is "charging that the incident (which took place September 9, 1999) has left her physically and emotionally scarred," according to the New York Times.
In the process of investigating the mutilation, the New York State Health Department ordered the Choices Women's Medical Center to cease all operating room procedures after an on-site January 29 investigation found "serious, systemic problems that pose a significant risk to vulnerable women," according to Health Department spokes-woman Kristin Smith. Choices hired Zarkin to be the clinic's medical director after Zarkin carved "AH" into Dr. Gedz's belly. Choices president Merle Hoffman told the Times she knew of Zarkin's alleged medical problem but nothing about the carving incident.
If the case weren't strange enough already, Dr. Gedz's attorney criticized Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau for bringing assault charges against Zarkin. "The real public issue," Robert Sullivan said, according the New York Times, "is the failure of the medical profession to monitor itself." But that, he added, "would take a lot of work, and this is an easy headline- grabbing conviction."
"This is not a private lawsuit," Morgenthau told the Times.
"This is a public prosecution. When someone commits a serious crime, it's up to the state to prosecute it." Morgenthau added, " Would you like somebody's initials carved into your belly without your permission?" Zarkin entered his not guilty plea in an appearance before Manhattan State Supreme Court Acting Justice Brenda Soloff February 9. Soloff released the 61-year-old Zarkin without bail and scheduled a hearing for March 14.
Understandably, the most intense criticism stems from the undeniable fact that Zarkin was allowed to practice medicine for four months after carving "AH" into the belly of Dr. Gedz following the delivery of her first child, a baby girl.
Beth Israel insists it went by the book, suspending Zarkin after an investigation, and reporting to the state Health Department that Zarkin had engaged in "grossly inappropriate conduct." (Zarkin was suspended from the hospital after a brief investigation and resigned September 17.)
However, the Health Department responded that the hospital's report to the department's oversight division lacked specificity - - it didn't even mention what Zarkin had done to Dr. Gedz, according to the Times, nor did the plastic surgeon who examined Dr. Gedz after the operation make any mention of the carving in his notes.
"It is fair to say that had we known the specific circumstances that produced the allegations from Beth Israel, we would have moved much more quickly to stop his practice of medicine," Kristin Smith told the Times. Zarkin's license was not suspended until January and not revoked until February 3.
Further investigation revealed that Zarkin already had a history of questionable behavior. The Health Department said that hospital administrators had "failed to properly document several complaints by nurses and doctors regarding Dr. Zarkin's bizarre behavior in the year before the carving," which, the Times reported, included allegations that he screamed at workers and was "pulling and yanking on newborn infants' arms after delivery."
Beth Israel, according to the Times, was hit with a fine of $14,000 by the Health Department and ordered "to improve its oversight of doctors." Described as one of the "harshest rebukes against a New York hospital in recent years," the fine amounted to $2,000 for each of seven citations issued against the medical center.
Beth Israel is also required to hire an independent consultant and make the recommended changes within a month of receiving the report.
Choices Women's Medical Center President Merle Hoffman told the Times she hired Zarkin to be medical director November 1. Hoffman said she trusted Zarkin, who had worked part time for Hoffman between 1983 and 1991. She said she first learned of the carving incident when she opened a letter addressed to Zarkin, which was from Dr. Gedz's attorney telling Zarkin that he was being sued.
Hoffman told the Times, "I felt shock and amazement when I read it. I called him into my office and I asked him, 'Did you do these things?' and he said, 'Yes,' and I asked him why and how this could have happened and he said he thought he did such a beautiful job, he thought he should sign it."
The Times also reported that during his two months as medical director "witnesses said Zarkin performed several botched surgeries."
But there's still more. It also turned out, according to the Times, that in 1998 one of Zarkin's patients "file[d] a complaint with the state Health Department alleging that the doctor sexually harassed her at New York Gyn/Ob Associates," the practice where he was a partner.
In addition, Dr. Daniel Saltzman, chairman of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Beth Israel, resigned February 1, although he will stay on staff, the New York Times reported.
It seems that about two weeks after Zarkin began his new position at Choices Women's Medical Center Dr. Saltzman met with him to discuss setting up a nurse-midwives program at Choices. This all took place after Beth Israel had suspended Zarkin and Zarkin had resigned. This was also after the hospital notified the state Health Department that Zarkin had engaged in "grossly inappropriate conduct" and after the hospital told Hoffman that Zarkin was no longer admitting patients at Beth Israel and to contact the hospital if she had any questions.
The proposal did not come to pass. When asked for comment, the hospital told the Times that "Beth Israel, for a variety of reasons, chose not to pursue a clinical affiliation with the Choices clinic."
Unfortunately, largely lost in the shuffle are the conditions found at the Choices clinic. On February 3, the Health Department ordered the clinic to "cease all operating room procedures after investigators found it was understaffed, performed abortions too quickly and did not properly maintain surgical equipment," Newsday reported.
According to Health Department spokeswoman Kristin Smith, investigators found "serious, systemic problems that pose a significant risk to vulnerable women."
Newsday reported that when investigators from the Health Department went to the clinic January 29 they found the following:
* Abortions were
performed every five to six minutes, leaving insufficient time to monitor the
patients and to prepare for the next woman.
* There was only one registered nurse and two assistants to care for 22
post- surgery patients.
* Choices had no functioning equipment with which to monitor patients
under general anesthesia.
* Even though he was not credentialed for the procedure, Zarkin was
allowed to perform laparoscopic surgery.
The 11-page report itself says a great deal more. For example, " There is
no effective infection control system in place at the facility." Moreover,
On 11/4/99, a psychiatric evaluation of practicing staff gynecologist [Dr. Zarkin] indicated the presence of a "frontal lobe disorder'" and that the quality of his work should be monitored since unsupervised clinical conduct may be inappropriate and his ability, judgment, and ability to focus should be evaluated on a weekly basis; however, there was no evidence that any supervisory measures were instituted.
Mary Spaulding Balch, a native of New York, is NRLC's director of state legislation. "New York is home to the worst abortionists, but the bottom line is that the entire abortion industry, regardless of state, is virtually unregulated," she told NRL News.
Balch added, "The one encouraging note in all this is that there may be a somewhat warmer reception when pro-life legislators offer bills to mandate that abortion clinics report complications."
After all, she said, except for the abortion lobby, "who could object?"