Doctor surrenders license after allegedly asking affected person who revealed abortion if she ‘had Jesus in her life’ | EUROtoday

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A Los Angeles gynecologist has surrendered his medical license for allegedly hectoring a affected person about Jesus and prescribing Bible research after she revealed having had an abortion 34 years prior.

The 63-year-old girl went to Dr. Lucien Cox in September 2021 for a routine examination, throughout which an assistant first requested a collection of preliminary questions, together with whether or not or not she had ever terminated a being pregnant. The girl mentioned she underwent an elective abortion in 1987, based on a disciplinary submitting by the Medical Board of California.

When Cox, 75, entered the room, he pressed the girl for additional particulars in regards to the abortion, and requested if she had “Jesus in her life,” the submitting states. When the girl informed Cox she was not spiritual, it says Cox requested if she needed to “go to heaven and avoid the devil,” telling her that “the devil is ruling the world.” He then spent the subsequent quarter-hour proselytizing earlier than inviting her to attend his Bible research class, which Cox mentioned supplied “counseling for women who suffer from guilt following an abortion,” based on the submitting.

Cox, who’s now not allowed to follow as of Tuesday, then known as his assistant again into the room and administered a pelvic examination and Pap smear, the submitting says.

The girl complained to state regulators, who launched a probe and found a second affected person of Cox’s had reported him to authorities in 2014 for “attempt[ing] to examine [her] uterus rectally without first warning her,” based on the submitting. Stunned, the 42-year-old girl pushed Cox away, left the workplace, and known as the police. Cops investigated, however no prison fees have been filed, the submitting states.

The submitting cites Cox, who started working towards in 1979, for unprofessional conduct and gross negligence, calling him out for “extreme departures from the standard of care.” The medical board pulled Cox’s license, efficient November 5.

In a press release supplied on Wednesday to The IndependentCox’s lawyer, Peter Osinoff, mentioned his consumer “did not offer to teach her about Christianity,” and that he denied making any feedback “about the devil or about going to heaven.” Cox is “deeply religious,” and merely “advised the patient [who had had an abortion] about a Bible study program that she might find helpful,” based on Osinoff.

“As always, a chaperone was present during the exam, which proceeded uneventfully,” he mentioned.

If Cox had proceeded to a tribunal earlier than the medical board, “he would not have lost his license, or been disciplined severely,” based on Osinoff, who mentioned Cox “has never been the subject of any prior disciplinary action during his lengthy career as a physician.”

“Rather than proceed to a costly hearing, Dr. Cox decided to surrender his license, as he had closed his office and had been planning to retire from the practice of medicine for some time,” the assertion concluded.

Cox additional denied attempting to look at the second affected person’s uterus by way of her rectum, based on Osinoff, who mentioned Cox had “provided excellent care for thousands of patients in the Los Angeles community.”