Medical board rebuffs Gov. DeSantis administration’s push to revoke abortion doc’s medical license

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Members of the state’s medical regulatory board have rejected a push by the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration to revoke a doctor’s medical license for providing 193 abortions without adhering to a 24-hour waiting period requirement.

Dr. Candace Cooley was charged with a single violation of “failing to perform any statutory or legal obligation placed upon a licensed physician” stemming from abortions she performed between April 25, 2022, when the 24-hour waiting period went into effect, and that May 7. The waiting period is one of the mandated informed consent requirements in Florida’s abortion laws.

An administrative law Judge concluded the state could not discipline Cooley on charges not alleged in the complaint; the Department of Health (DOH) alleged a single violation of the law, not 193 separate violations. But the DOH took exception to the recommended order and asked the Governor-appointed board to revoke her license.

The Board, meeting in Orlando on Friday, instead accepted the Judge’s recommendation and fined the physician $10,000 and ordered her to take five hours of continuing medical education.

Four Board of Medicine members — Drs. Matthew Benson, Steven Christie, J. Matthew Knight, and Hector Vila — voted against approving the recommended order because they wanted to impose a tougher penalty than Judge James Peterson recommended.

Vila, a Tampa anesthesiologist and longtime Board member, called the case “egregious” and specifically said he endorsed revoking the physician’s license, a move that would have left her unable to work.

“Members, I find this egregious and I’m just asking you to kind of consider what is the evidence in the record,” said Vila, who is politically active in the anti-abortion movement.

An anesthesiologist, Vila was a witness for the state when the 24-hour waiting period was being litigated and testified that he was “not aware of another area of medicine, besides abortion, in which a non-emergency outpatient invasive procedure is performed without a prior visit and consultation.”

They weren’t surgical procedures

Vila and other Board members questioned the high number of abortions and whether Cooley was spending enough time with patients before providing the abortions. Cooley, these doctors maintained, was spending less than 20 minutes with each patient before providing an abortion, most of which were medicinal, not surgical procedures.

“I think that we should at a minimum place a restriction on the license because I feel like this doctor doesn’t use good judgment in doing these abortions,” Vila said. “The rapidity in which she did the procedures and the way she tried to cram them in is egregious and so at the minimum what would you think about restricting her license from doing these procedures?”

Vila wasn’t the only Board member who questioned the number of procedures Cooley conducted during the period in question.

“I can tell you, I went through the timeline 17 times. Every which way, it is the very timeline I have trouble with,” said Dr. Patrick Hunter, a Pensacola pediatrician.

Hunter questioned how Cooley could have completed medical histories and obtained and informed consent in the time she allotted.

“To me the timeline ignores the law. The law is important,” Hunter said, adding that an “ethical requirement to get a truly valid informed consent existed long before April 25,” when the waiting period went into effect.

But Zachariah Zachariah, a Ft. Lauderdale cardiologist and longtime Board member, urged the Board to accept the Judge’s recommended order.

“I understand the emotion and the discussion of the Board. I totally understand. I don’t think she did a stellar performance, either. But let’s face reality. This went to a Judge who is a trier of facts. They looked at all the evidence heard from all the witnesses, came to a conclusion, made a recommendation. Unfortunately, whether you like it or not, that’s what you’ve got to do,” Zachariah said of approving the Judge’s recommendation. “And I call the question.”

It was the Board’s first meeting since the election in which the proposed state constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights failed to get the 60% needed to pass. Had the amendment passed, the 24-hour waiting period could have been determined a barrier to women from accessing abortion.

One Board seat is vacant. Of the 14 sitting members, two are women but only one of them, Amy Derick, a Wesley Chapel dermatologist, participated in the meeting as the Chair.

Doctor didn’t address Board

Cooley attended the Orlando Board meeting but because the Board was considering an administrative Judge’s recommended order, she did not testify. That’s because when considering recommended orders, the Board can act solely on the testimony considered during the administrative hearing and contained in the order. It cannot consider testimony the Judge did not hear.

Cooley also refused to discuss the case with the Florida Phoenix following the meeting or to have her picture taken.

But Cooley’s attorney, Julie Gallagher, told the Board that Cooley met all the other requirements in Florida’s informed consent law, which include providing an ultrasound that confirms gestational age and information about abortions and the risks involved with the procedure.

None of the 193 patients were injured as a result of Cooley’s actions and none filed complaints. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which regulates abortion clinics, referred Cooley to the Department of Health for prosecution.

“I wish Dr. Cooley could address you directly because she could explain more about the timeline,” Gallagher said.

Board counsel Christopher Dierlam told members to stick to the findings in the recommended order. “There’s no evidence in the record that the Judge found she was rushing,” Dierlam said. “To the extent the Board wanted to rely on that, there would need to be a finding by the ALJ addressing that.”

In regard to Cooley’s single violation, Gallagher told the Board that her office tried repeatedly to contact AHCA to ask about the effective date of the 24-hour waiting period requirement, which had been litigated for years before taking effect. AHCA, Gallagher said, started surveying clinics May 9 asking about the effective date, a month before the agency notified the providers that the law was in effect.

The Board of Medicine is the state licensing board in charge of disciplining medical doctors. It considers all disciplinary cases against physicians. While abortion-related cases fall under its purview, there aren’t many of them.

Following the vote, Derick told the Florida Phoenix: “This case was not a referendum on abortion. It was about a specific case and so that’s how it was adjudicated.”

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Christine Sexton reporting. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.