INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 Supporters of an Indianapolis doctor voiced frustration Friday with the Indiana medical board鈥檚 decision that she violated patient privacy laws when she talked with a newspaper reporter about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.
The board鈥檚 vote late Thursday to issue a letter of reprimand against Dr. Caitlin Bernard won鈥檛 limit her ability to practice medicine in the state, and the hospital system where she works said it stood by its finding that she followed privacy rules. The medical board rejected allegations that Bernard failed to properly report suspected child abuse and was unfit to have a medical license.
Some of Bernard鈥檚 colleagues criticized the Medical Licensing Board鈥檚 vote and the state attorney general鈥檚 against her as trying to intimidate doctors in Indiana, where the Republican-dominated Legislature enacted an abortion ban last year that .
Bernard鈥檚 revelation of the girl traveling to Indiana to receive abortion drugs turned her case into a days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. Some news outlets and Republican politicians falsely suggested Bernard fabricated the story until a 27-year-old . During an event at the White House, President Joe Biden nearly over the case.
Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita, who is stridently anti-abortion, touted the board鈥檚 decision as supporting his arguments that Bernard broke 鈥渢he trust between the doctor and patient.鈥
The board鈥檚 vote to reprimand Bernard and fine her $3,000 was far short of the medical license suspension that Rokita's office asked the panel to impose.
Bernard's lawyers argued Thursday that officials at Indiana University Health, her employer and the state鈥檚 largest hospital system, had reviewed last summer what she said about the girl鈥檚 treatment and found no violation of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
IU Health said in a Friday statement that it was pleased Bernard would remain among its doctors.
鈥淲e do not agree with the board鈥檚 decision regarding patient privacy regulations and stand by the HIPAA risk assessment,鈥 the hospital system said. 鈥淲e believe Dr. Bernard was compliant with privacy laws.鈥
A request for an interview with Bernard was declined Friday by a spokeswoman for her attorneys.
Bernard鈥檚 lawyers didn鈥檛 say Friday whether they would appeal the board decision in the state court system. They issued a statement questioning the board鈥檚 reprimand vote for not specifying what protected health information she wrongly revealed.
鈥淲hile we wholeheartedly disagree with the letter of reprimand on privacy issues, we are proud of Dr. Bernard for standing up for access to compassionate medical care and for her consummate professionalism during these unprecedented proceedings,鈥 her lead attorney, Alice Morical, said.
Bernard has . She testified Thursday that she believed it was important to use 鈥渞eal-world impacts鈥 of anti-abortion laws and that she didn鈥檛 expect so many doubts over her account of such a young girl becoming pregnant.
鈥淭he idea that this was something that someone would make up or was a lie or is something that doesn鈥檛 happen was very surprising to me,鈥 Bernard said.
Witnesses and lawyers for the attorney general鈥檚 office maintained during the licensing hearing that it was the combination of Bernard telling an Indianapolis Star reporter about the girl鈥檚 age and home state, that she was past Ohio鈥檚 then-six-week limit for an abortion and that the procedure would happen in the coming days that created a violation of patient privacy laws.
Dr. Tracey Wilkinson, a pediatrician who works with Bernard at IU Health, attended the board hearing in support of Bernard and called her case 鈥減olitical persecution鈥 that should worry doctors.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 incredibly unfortunate as the intimidation of Dr. Bernard sends a message that this can happen to any physician that鈥檚 providing comprehensive evidence-based health care to their patients,鈥 Wilkinson said.
Anti-abortion groups called on Indiana hospitals to reconsider whether to keep doctors who provide abortions on their staff.
鈥淒r. Bernard readily and willingly put her patient -- who was not consulted or willing -- into the public light for her own agenda,鈥 said Marc Tuttle, the president of Right to Life of Indianapolis.
The medical board members 鈥 five doctors and one attorney appointed or reappointed by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb 鈥 rejected separate allegations that Bernard violated state law by not reporting the child abuse to Indiana authorities. Bernard and IU Health officials testified that she followed Indiana鈥檚 reporting requirements and hospital policy by notifying hospital social workers about the child abuse 鈥 and that the girl鈥檚 rape was already being investigated by Ohio authorities.
The board鈥檚 split decision on the Bernard allegations left no clear winner in the case, said Laura Iosue, a lawyer who led medical licensing investigations at the state attorney general鈥檚 office for seven years until 2020. The vote will lead to doctors watching more closely what they talk about, she said.
鈥淓verybody鈥檚 going to be a little more cautious,鈥 Iosue said. 鈥淚 think everybody鈥檚 going to have their antennae up now, based on this decision.鈥
