WATERBURY– A gynecologist is being reprimanded and fined after removing the uterus of a pregnant woman.
Jonathan Foster, of Waterbury, performed the laparoscopic hysterectomy on the female patient and performed both pre- and post-operative care between January 20 and January 25, 2011.
The consent order, which the state Department of Public Health issued and now needs to be approved by the state medical board, states that Foster failed to meet the standard of professional care for the patient for three reasons:
- He didn’t detect her pregnancy before operating on her
- He didn’t follow up on an equivocal urine pregnancy test with a blood test and/or ultrasound
- He relied on the patient’s belief that she wasn’t pregnant
While a urine pregnancy test was performed, the result was “equivocal,” which means it couldn’t determine either way if the patient was pregnant.
You can read the entire consent order here: Medical board ruling for Jonathan Foster.
Foster, who has been a licensed physician and surgeon since 1994 in the state of Connecticut, didn’t contest the findings of the board, and waived his right to a hearing, meaning he accepted all the terms put forth in the order for him to keep his license.
He was ordered to complete an American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology decennial maintenance of certification process after the incident, which he did.
Foster was also reprimanded, and was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $5,000 to the state treasurer’s office.
However, this ruling does not impact civil lawsuits or criminal proceedings, so either of those are still possible.
