Indianapolis OB-GYN Drops Lawsuit Against Rokita

December 8, 2022

Legal professionals for an Indianapolis physician on Thursday stated they might voluntarily withdraw a lawsuit towards Indiana Legal professional Common Todd Rokita as a result of the case has now shifted to an administrative licensing motion.

Marion County Superior Courtroom Decide Heather Welch dominated final week that he induced “irreparable hurt” to the OB-GYN’s popularity {and professional} standing. However in the end she selected to not block an investigation into Dr. Caitlin Bernard — who carried out an abortion on a 10-year-old lady from Ohio in June. The physician has maintained that she is being focused by Rokita and his workplace.

“With in the present day’s voluntary dismissal, we protect our victory in courtroom proving that the Legal professional Common violated Indiana regulation by publicly discussing the small print of an investigation into Dr. Bernard which he was statutorily required to maintain confidential at that stage,” stated Legal professional Kathleen Delaney in an announcement Thursday. “Whereas the movement for emergency aid was pending, AG Rokita dropped his investigation of Dr. Caldwell altogether. We are actually shifting all our consideration to the grievance Mr. Rokita has filed towards Dr. Bernard with the Medical Licensing Board.”

Though Welch denied an injunction, she did discover that Rokita violated state confidentiality legal guidelines a number of occasions when he publicly mentioned his workplace’s ongoing investigation into Bernard.
DeLaney, one among Bernard’s attorneys, additionally pointed to jurisdictional points that may doubtless hold the case from shifting ahead.

That’s as a result of the Republican lawyer common despatched a grievance towards Bernard to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board simply days earlier than Welch’s ruling. Rokita stated Bernard “failed to instantly report the abuse and rape of a kid to Indiana authorities” after performing the abortion on the lady from Ohio.

Welch stated in her ruling Friday that as a result of Rokita filed the licensure motion with the Medical Licensing Board, the courtroom “not has jurisdiction to make any factual findings … even for the needs of a preliminary order.”

Delaney stated “We look ahead to defending Dr. Bernard and her medical license towards Rokita’s baseless assaults. Rokita’s actions set a harmful precedent imperiling the availability of lawful affected person care and jeopardizing the confidentiality of affected person medical data. And Rokita continues to take these actions at taxpayer expense.”

It’s not but clear when the Indiana Medical Licensing Board will take up the grievance towards Bernard. The board’s subsequent assembly is scheduled for late January.

Bernard and her medical associate Dr. Amy Caldwell filed the request for an emergency courtroom order final month in an try to dam Rokita’s workplace from accessing affected person’s medical data. Legal professionals for the medical doctors stated they have been additionally making an attempt to stop future “unchecked oversteps” by the lawyer common.

Their courtroom submitting was a follow-up to an earlier grievance filed to provoke a lawsuit towards Rokita.

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