Delaware 'likely' to suspend abortion doc's license

The problems continue to mount for Kermit B. Gosnell, the local abortion doctor who's been linked to the deaths of two women.

Gosnell's medical license could be suspended today in Delaware where, an official said, he's been licensed as a physician since 1994.

Last week, Pennsylvania authorities suspended his state medical license for 30 days and labeled his West Philadelphia clinic a "clear danger to the public" after investigators found blood-stained floors and jars of fetus remains inside the clinic.

It's unclear if Gosnell, 69, will attend an emergency suspension hearing this afternoon in Dover before the Delaware Board of Medical Practice, said James Collins, the director of the Division of Professional Regulation, which oversees numerous state agencies, including the medical board.

Collins said that "it's likely" that the medical board will suspend Gosnell's license, noting that board members have been in touch with investigators in Pennsylvania.

If the board does suspend his license, they will have 60 days to decide whether to lift the suspension or revoke Gosnell's license, Collins said.

The director added that he didn't know if Gosnell had a current practice in Delaware.

The potential suspension in Delaware is just the latest twist in a case that has been full of bizarre developments since the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Gosnell's West Philly clinic, the Women's Medical Society, at 38th Street and Lancaster Avenue, on Feb. 18.

At the time, a law-enforcement source said, the agents were investigating the possibility that Gosnell was writing phony prescriptions.

What the agents found, authorities said, proved to be far worse: revolting, unsanitary office conditions and evidence that unlicensed employees were giving medications to patients.

State investigators said that one patient, Karnamaya Mongar, died after she was heavily medicated and had an abortion on Nov. 20.

Court records show that another patient, Semika Shirelle Shaw, died a day after she had an abortion at the clinic in 2000.

Numerous other women came forward last week with horrific tales of botched abortions that they claimed to have suffered at the hands of Gosnell, who's been a licensed physician and surgeon in Pennsylvania since 1967.

At least 46 civil lawsuits have been filed against him over the years, though not all have been related to malpractice claims.

Gosnell's attorney, William J. Brennan, noted on Friday that the abortion doctor has not been charged with any wrongdoing.