A Ladera Ranch doctor, who twice did a surgery unsuccessfully before referring a patient to a different doctor, got a one-year probation term from the state medical board.
In March 2009, Faraz-Eslami had a patient whose low levels of amniotic fluid complicated the pregnancy. During an exam at about 17 weeks gestation, Faraz-Eslami found that the baby had died in the womb. The patient would need surgery, and Faraz-Eslami referred her to another doctor with more experience doing the procedure, the document states. The woman, however, wanted Faraz-Eslami to do it, and she agreed.
So, the next day Faraz-Eslami performed a dilation and curettage procedure -- dilating the cervix and removing the uterine contents. The medical board lists Faraz-Eslami's missteps during the procedure: she didn't use the guidance of an ultrasound, she didn't use laminara to help dilate the cervix and she didn't do an inventory of the "evacuated fetal parts and placenta" afterward the procedure.
About 10 days later, the patient showed up at the emergency room with severe pain, so Faraz-Eslami performed a second surgery. Again, the procedure wasn't done under ultrasound guidance and the cervix wasn't properly prepared. When the patient complained of pain again, Faraz-Eslami referred her to a doctor with more experience doing the surgery. That doctor found that parts of the fetus were still present.
The medical board, therefore, decided Faraz-Eslami's license should be disciplined because she lacked "the appropriate skills, current knowledge and proper training to perform the procedures safely and correctly."
As part of her yearlong probation, Faraz-Eslami must take a sixty-day clinical training program and she can't do any dilation and evacuation procedures on women who have reached 13 weeks gestation.
A call to Faraz-Eslami's office wasn't answered, because the office is closed. I'll update the post if she calls back.