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State Board Accuses Octomom Doctor of Negligence

By Paul Napoli

January 5, 2009

The Medical Board of California has filed a complaint accusing Michael Kamrava, M.D., a Beverly Hills obstetrician/gynecologist, of negligence and violation of professional guidelines in the case of a California woman who gave birth to octuplets.

The Board's complaint identified the patient only by the initials N.S. and did not specifically state Nadya Suleman, who gained world-wide fame for giving birth to the world's longest living set of octuplets for a total of 14 children conceived by in-vitro fertilization (IVF), although Suleman has previously identified Kamrava as her physician.

The complaint accuses Michael Kamrava, M.D. of gross negligence of transferring too many embryos to patient N.S. on seven different occasions from December 2002 through July 2008.

'The number of blastocyst embryos Respondent (Kamrava) transferred to N.S. on July 19, 2008 should not be transferred into any woman, regardless of age. The number of blastocyst embryos transferred not only was in violation of the standard of care, but is beyond the reasonable judgment of any treating physician,' says the complaint filed by Barbara Johnston, Executive Director of the Medical Board of California.

In each of the patient's seven oocyte harvesting procedures from September 2000 to January 2008, Kamrava cryopreserved the unused embryos. The complaint alleges gross negligence because Kamrava placed the patient at an increased medical risk by repeatedly subjecting the patient to oocyte harvesting each time she requested IVF, instead of using or recommending the use of the 'stockpiled' embryos.

Suleman said her reason for the IVF that resulted in the octuplets was that she did not want her frozen embryos to go to waste. She said in a New York Times Magazine article, 'If you have these frozen embryos that are there, and they were writing you letters saying, We are charging you this much, and it's going up and up and up every month that they are stored — you can either use them or destroy them. You're like, O.K., I have six already. What's another? And maybe it won't even work. So, I just decided to take the chance because I didn't want to destroy the embryos.'

The Board also accuses Kamrava of another count of gross negligence because he never referred the patient or recommended the patient consult with a mental health professional. Even though the physician was aware that N.S. was a single woman with multiple children conceived with IVF and that N.S. exhibited a pattern of repeatedly returning about four months after each birth for new IVF procedures.

The complaint also states that Kamrava administered N.S. excessively high doses of Gonadotropins, protein hormones secreted by the pituitary gland, for IVF stimulation and failed to maintain adequate medical records.

Medical malpractice can result in serious injuries and even deaths. Medical malpractice occurs when a physician or other medical care provider does not follow the "reasonable standard of care" for a patient in a similar medical situation. This standard of care is based on what other people in similar professions would do when faced with the same situation. Administering a treatment that results in injury or harm when the possible complications of such a treatment were not justified can be a form of medical malpractice. If you have been injured as the result of medical malpractice or negligence while you were under the care of a physician or a patient in a hospital, you may be able to file a claim and collect compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses and other losses. Call Napoli Bern Ripka, LLP at 888-529-4669 today to discuss your legal options.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Paul Napoli

Full post as published by New York City Personal Injury Lawyer on January 07, 2010 (boomark / email).