BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Right to Life mailed letters to the Bossier Parish District Attorney, the Department of Health, and the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners requesting an investigation of potential violations of state law surrounding the destruction of patient medical records after the closure of the Bossier City Medical Suite (BCMS). A copy of the letter can be
downloaded here.
Here is a summary of the facts of the matter:
Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, said, "The destruction of patient records in the months immediately following the closure of a medical facility is concerning, and state laws could be in violation because of this. Now, potentially even more concerning is that public records have revealed that BCMS closed only weeks after the Department of Health found deficiencies for failure to report the rape of a minor and failure to report abortions to the Department among a small sample size of files reviewed. How many more violations of state law, such as the unreported rape of a minor, could be found in the patient records of BCMS? Unfortunately, since the destruction of their patient records, future investigations or criminal proceedings may never be able to determine if additional violations of state law occurred. We call on local and state agencies to investigate these matters and take appropriate action."
HB 484, authored by Rep. Raymond Crews (R-Bossier), is scheduled to be considered today before the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee. In response to this situation, HB 484 extends the responsibility of retaining medical records beyond the abortion physician to the outpatient abortion facility owner.
Clapper continued, "Moving forward, HB 484 is critical because the outpatient abortion facility must have a responsibility to protect patient records. In many cases the physicians employed at these facilities are contract employees rather than facility owners. The Legislature must act now to protect patient records at outpatient abortion facilities."
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