Doctor charged with manslaughter in death of abortion patient
By David Abel, Globe Staff
A doctor has been charged with manslaughter in the death of one of his patients after an abortion procedure last year on Cape Cod, prosecutors said today.
Dr. Rapin Osathanondh has been indicted by a grand jury for manslaughter in the death of Laura Hope Smith at the Women's Health Center on Camp Street in Hyannis on Sept. 13, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said today.
The charges came after an investigation by the Barnstable police, State Police, and the Board of Registration in Medicine, O'Keefe said in a statement.
"On behalf of the family, they are delighted to know that justice has listened to their cries," said David Angueira, a Boston attorney representing the Smith family in a civil lawsuit against the doctor in Barnstable Superior court. "They hope and pray that justice will prevail."
The Globe reported in February that Osathanondh, who had practiced in the state since 1974, resigned his medical license and was permanently removed from practicing medicine by the state Board of Registration in Medicine.
The board alleged that Osathanondh, in performing a procedure on "a healthy 22-year-old female," engaged in "conduct that calls into question his competence to practice medicine."
The board alleged, among other things, that Osathanondh had placed the patient under sedation without any means of cardiac monitoring and no blood pressure cuff. The board said the doctor had no assistant who could administer sedation and monitor the patient and no assistant who could assist in resuscitating her. And it said he "failed to timely initiate a call to 911." The board also alleged that Osathanondh had made a variety of false statements.
The board said Osathanondh tried to waken the patient after the procedure, but she did not respond. She was later transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Osathanondh, 65, graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Mahidol University, Thailand, in 1967. He received his license to practice medicine in Massachusetts in 1974. He was a solo practitioner at the Women's Health Center, according to the board.
