[Pflienews] PharmFacts E-News Update: Biomedical waste found in abortion clinic trash

Thu Mar 13 05:42:39 MDT 2008

*PharmFacts E-News Update -- 13 Mar 2008 AD

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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/METRO/803110329/1408/LOCAL

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

  Biomedical waste found in abortion clinic trash

    Official at woman's clinic blames it on an employee error, but
    critics say it has happened at other facilities.

        Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News

*LATHRUP VILLAGE* -- State officials on Monday began investigating 
allegations of improper disposal of medical waste and documents at two 
clinics operated by WomanCare, an abortion provider with six 
Mid-Michigan locations.

Acting on a tip from abortion foes, Lathrup Village police and the 
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality called in a hazardous waste 
disposal company early Monday morning to haul away blood-soaked gauze, 
surgical instruments and other biomedical waste found in the Dumpster 
outside the Lathrup Village office of WomanCare. DEQ officials later 
searched the garbage outside of a WomanCare clinic in Sterling Heights 
but it was unclear if they recovered anything.

Alberto Hodari, the clinics' medical director, said nothing was 
recovered from the Dumpster in Sterling Heights. He blamed the Lathrup 
Village situation on an error.

"They had a new employee on Saturday," Hodari said.

But Monica Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, scoffed 
that the clinic had made a mistake at one clinic.

"That's a bunch of B.S.," Miller said. "Then that staff member must work 
at every single one of his clinics."

Her group prompted the official investigation after a monthlong search 
allegedly uncovered improper disposal of biomedical waste, fetal 
remains, and reams of medical documents in garbage receptacles outside 
of the WomanCare offices in Lathrup Village, Sterling Heights and Southgate.

After several searches in February, the group called on police and state 
officials. They also secured a funeral home to hold the estimated dozen 
fetuses for a spring burial.

"It's absolutely despicable," said Miller. "No human being belongs in 
the trash. What does this say about our culture: that life is trash?"

Among the alleged discoveries of medical equipment, empty medicine 
bottles, contaminated gauze and various documents, were about 300 
medical documents that included insurance, pathology and abortion 
schedules. Most were dated in 2008 and some included patients' names, 
phone numbers, pregnancy stage and abortion date.

Last week Lathrup Village Police and the Department of Environmental 
Quality examined the discoveries at Miller's South Lyon home. Hazardous 
waste crews disposed of the waste while police confiscated the documents.

Sharon Riley was upset for her daughter, who had an abortion at the 
clinic, and also for other women whose medical information and surgical 
tools allegedly were tossed improperly.

"You just don't dump stuff like that in the garbage," said Riley, a 
registered nurse. "You never know, some of these patients -- not my 
daughter -- but they could be HIV-positive or they could have any disease."

Most abortion providers contract with companies that properly dispose of 
the tissue and shred documents with sensitive information, said Renee 
Chelian, head of three family planning clinics in Metro Detroit.

"That's the difference between quality medical care and haphazard 
medical care," Chelian said.

Biomedical waste is to be disposed of either by incineration, cemetery 
burial or grinding and flushing through a sanitary sewer, according to 
Robert McCann, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental 
Quality.

Anyone who violates the law is subject to a fine of up to $2,500 for 
each incident and up to $1,000 each day during which the violation occurred.

McCann's office plans to determine the magnitude and seriousness of the 
situation before levying any sanctions. But it was unlikely the clinic 
would face serious repercussions.

"Our priority is always to work with them and get them into compliance," 
he said.

No criminal charges were issued Monday because no laws were broken, said 
Lathrup Village Police Sgt. Vincent Lynch.

His office planned to share the evidence they collected with the offices 
of the attorney general and Oakland County prosecutor. If any charges 
were filed, the maximum penalty would be a misdemeanor charge of 
improper disposal of medical waste, Lynch said.

"This ought to be a felony," Lynch said. "This is a neighborhood. 
Animals could get into the Dumpster they could drag the stuff around and 
you could end up with contamination as a public health issue far beyond 
the radius of the Dumpster.

"We have greater law enforcement for people who throw things outside the 
window of their car."

/You can reach Kim Kozlowski at (313) 222-2024 or kkozlowski at detnews.com 
<http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/METRO/mailto:kkozlowski@detnews.com>./

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