Affiliate: Planned Parenthood of Delaware
Locations: 4. Covered here: 3.
Health Violations; Entire State, Wilmington
Malpractice Suit: Wilmington
Patients who feel a need to file a complaint:
Delaware Office of Health Facilities Licensing and Certification
Entire State
Delaware Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline Complaint
Delaware Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline Order
The first document asks for a hearing to revoke the license of a Planned Parenthood doctor; the second document confirms that he has agreed to give up his license.
Nurse Mitchell-Werbrich Testimony to the Delaware State Legislature
Excerpts:
On April 20, 2012, I was hired as a recovery room nurse at Planned Parenthood of Delaware. I worked a total of 27 days (approximately) at Planned Parenthood. I worked 16 days at Planned Parenthood of Delaware’s Wilmington site and 11 days at Planned Parenthood of Delaware’s Dover site. I was forced to resign on August 8, 2012 as the conditions at Planned Parenthood continued to be unsafe and potentially life-threatening for the . . . I feared that a patient was going to end up being harmed and that I would lose my nursing license. I also endured a hostile environment at Planned Parenthood after reporting the horrendous conditions that were occurring there.
. . . I witnessed meat market style assembly line abortions. This type of care was something I had never seen before in my entire nursing career. On an average day at the Wilmington Planned Parenthood site one abortion would be completed every 8-10 minutes. The doctor would be in such a hurry to get the patients in and out that he himself would bring the patients back into the unclean procedure room where the examination table would still have bloody drainage and body fluids on it from the previous patient. . . .
Another very serious concern I had at Planned Parenthood was the mishandlings of RhoGAM. RhoGAM is a product that must be given within 72 hours to every . . patient whose Rh factor is negative after having an abortion. . . I cannot help but think of all the Rh negative women that may be suffering from not having the RhoGAM they needed. It is likely that many women in Delaware may have to deal with future babies who have severe anemia, jaundice, brain damage, heart failure or even death. The sad thing is that these women may not even realizeo the fact that Planned Parenthood could be at fault for these medical tragedies even years after they had their abortions at Planned Parenthood.
. . . I witnessed that the emergency box and equipment contained expired emergency medications as well as faulty emergency equipment such as an oxygen mask that was no longer functional. This could potentially cause death to a patient in need of emergency care.
. . . I had reported to both of these state agencies the many unsafe conditions which included that there were no guidelines, no standards of care, no procedure, or protocol manuals to be found anywhere, intravenous (IV’s) were being started using an unsterile technique and patients endured multiple needle sticks. I reported that Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Timothy Liveright had struck a patient by inappropriately slapping her at the dilation phase during an abortion. I reported that most of the Planned Parenthood Staff members did not wear protective gear or utilize universal blood and body fluid precautions; consents for sedation and procedures were sometimes obtained late as staff was rushed and hurried; registered nurses had to hide the patient’s chart from Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Timothy Liveright so the pre-procedure medications could have time to take effect because he was in such a rush to get to the next patient; lab work not being performed correctly thus the lab value results were incorrect; patients given sedation were found outside walking down Market Street dazed and confused; staff medical credentials were not verified; the emergency medications and equipment had expired; the narcotics were not being regulated; HIPPA privacy not being practiced; an intern who had been instructed by her instructor to only observe was pressured into providing abortion care; Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Timothy Liveright once left sedated patients in the middle of an abortion procedure waiting for hours in order to handle a mechanical issue with his private airplane; and more.
. . . Ms. Peterson also informed me that she could only take complaints from patients. I told her that this patient population was not at all likely to report to her. I explained to Ms. Peterson that abortion is a stigmatizing event that causes patients to feel too uncomfortable to advocate for themselves. I also shared with Ms. Peterson that many of the patients that receive care at Planned Parenthood are young, poor, often minorities that lack knowledge of the reporting process to Delaware Health and Social Services and that these patients generally do not have the financial means to hire legal assistance necessary to even defend themselves. I told her that I was reporting on behalf of the patients and to consider me to be the “voice of the patients.” But Ms. Peterson refused again stating that she could only take complaints from a patient.
Portion of a Letter from Jayne Mitchell
Excerpt:
Often Dr. Liveright starts his day by wearing a scrub uniform that is wrinkled and stained with what appears to be bloody drainage. His personal hygiene is unprofessional as well.
When starting an IV, Dr. Liveright uses the same needle for multiple sticks. This is not proper medical procedure.
Article, Cape Gazette
Planned Parenthood Doctor Gave Up Delaware License
Portion of a Letter from Jayne Mitchell
Excerpt:
Sexual Harassment: I have noted Dr. Liveright inappropriately look up and down patients as well as staff members in a sexual kind of way. He actually stands back with a grin and slowly directs his eyes up and down a patient’s body.
Letter from HHS/OCR responding to complaint
On August 23, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Region III received a complaint alleging Planned Parenthood of Delaware . . . has violated the Federal Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information . . . Specifically, the complainant alleged that Planned Parenthood of Delaware has no curtains or separations between patient treatment areas, permitting patients to hear other patients’ protected health information.
Dover
DE Dover Google 1. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Dover Google 2. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Dover Google 3. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 4. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 5. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 6. Accessed February 3, 2022.
DE Dover Google 7. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 8. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 9. Accessed 02.03.22.
.
DE Dover Google 10. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 11. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Dover Google 12. Accessed 02.03.22.
Newark
DE Newark Google 1. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 2. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Newark Google 3. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Newark Google 4. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Newark Google 5. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 6. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 7. Accessed 02.03.22..
DE Newark Google 8. Accessed F 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 9. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 10. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 11. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Google 12. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Newark Yelp 1
Wilmington
Moore
Court Document:
Filed: December 11, 2006
Excerpts:
7. . . . an ultrasound was conducted and Plaintiff . . . was told she was under five (5) weeks pregnant and would not require a surgical abortion, which gave the impression that Defendant Planned Parenthood established an intrauterine pregnancy.
8. . . . Plaintiff . . . was given one (1) pill to be taken by mouth, instructed to go home and on the 17th of December, after having a prescription filled for additional pills, she was instructed to insert four (4) of the pills into her vagina and that she would cramp and bleed for the next seven (7) or eight (8) days producing loss of the baby.
9. On about January 5, 2005, Plaintiff . . . had a follow up visit with Defendant, Planned Parenthood, and at that time had her urine checked through use of a “dip test”, and was subsequently informed . . . that she was no longer pregnant.
10. At the same time and place, Plaintiff . . . was given an ultrasound . . . and she was again assured that she was no longer pregnant and that the medical abortion had been successful.
11. By about January 7, 2005, Plaintiff . . . was having problems urinating, was bloated and began experiencing severe pain in her body, and especially in her back and stomach.
12. On about January 8, 2005, Plaintiff . . . was rushed to Kent General Hospital where she again underwent a urine test which showed positive for pregnancy and an ultrasound which confirmed that there was an acute ruptured ectopic pregnancy in her right fallopian tube diagnosed as ruptured right ampullary/corneal ectopic gestation with Hemoperitoneum (an effusion of blood into the peritoneal cavity) requiring an emergency laparoscopy and surgical removal of the right fallopian tube (salpingectomy).
February 8, 2013
February 16, 2013
Melody Meanor, the former Health Center Manager of Family Planning at Planned Parenthood of Delaware in Wilmington
Testimony at a Delaware legislative hearing
Excerpt:
State medical licensing officials filed a formal complaint Thursday against a doctor who performed abortions at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Wilmington that was recently cited by public health officials for several unsafe and unsanitary practices.
The complaint by the state Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline said Dr. Timothy F. Liveright represents a “clear and immediate danger to the public.”
It accuses him of engaging in multiple acts of incompetence and negligence in performing abortions on five patients in February and March of this year.
Those acts, according to state officials, include oversedating patients, performing unnecessary suction procedures, causing at least one perforation during surgery, and failing to act with proper competence and diligence to avoid unnecessary complications that resulted in patients requiring emergency hospital treatment.
The complaint also notes that Liveright was reprimanded by Planned Parenthood in March of last year for unprofessional conduct that included sexually harassing female employees and “yelling, screaming, and cursing” in front of patients and employees.
Nurses Claim Wilmington Planned Parenthood Never Notified Women of STDs
Excerpt:
A Planned Parenthood facility in Wilmington is under fire following new accusations from three former employees.
Former manager Melody Meanor and former nurses Joyce Vasikonis and Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich spoke at a legislative hearing on Monday, claiming the Planned Parenthood clinic located on Shipley Street in Wilmington is unprofessional, under-trained and unsafe.
“Women are exposed to potential infection of any kind you can imagine that can be passed from one patient to another,” Vasikonis said.
During their testimony, the women claimed the privacy of patients was jeopardized, that they were asked to falsify employee records, that medical assistants were poorly trained and that certain women in need of certain medications after abortions often didn’t receive them. They also claimed that the facility failed to inform up to 200 women that they tested positive for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
From the Occupational Safey and Health Administration (OSHA):
DE Wilmington 2013 summary of case
Excerpt:
Hazard Description:
1. Employees are exposed to skin puncture from contaminated sharps.
2. Eating and drinking are allowed in work areas where there is a reasonable likelihood of occupational exposure.
3. Contaminated medical equipment is not decontaminated as necessary.
4. Employees exposed to potentially infectious materials are not provided with and/or required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
5. Contaminated personal protective equipment is not handled, cleaned and laundered as required by the OSHA Blood Borne Pathogen Standard (29CFR 1910.1030).
6. All equipment and working surfaces are not appropriately cleaned and decontaminated after contact with infectious materials.
7. Employees . . . have not received sufficient training.
Indeed.com Planned Parenthood Employee Reviews in Wilmington, DE
DE Wilmington Indeed 1
DE Wilmington Google 1. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Wilmington Google 2. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Wilmington Google 3. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Wilmington Google 4. Accessed 04.15.21.
DE Wilmington Google 5. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Wilmington Google 6. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Wilmington Google 7. Accessed 02.03.22.
DE Wilmington Google 8. Accessed 02.03.22.
