'Proud of the stand I took': Dr. Caitlin Bernard will not fight medical board's penalty

Update: Dr. Caitlin Bernard has decided not to challenge the medical board's decision.

"I am hopeful that my example shows how important it is for medical providers to be brave advocates and speak up when needed," she said in a statement issued Aug. 30. "At this point, I have no confidence that an appeal would change the outcome of this decision."

She said she was "proud of the stand I took."

"My time and energy are much better spent providing healthcare to Hoosiers now living under the recent abortion ban in our state and in the broader fight for reproductive healthcare."

Original article: In a newly-published letter of reprimand and final order, Indiana's medical licensing board called on obstetrician-gynecologist Caitlin Bernard to keep confidential "all knowledge and information" about her patients, bringing an end to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's administrative charges against the doctor.

Now, Bernard's team has roughly a month to decide if they want to fight her punishment - which also includes a $3,000 fine - by asking a Marion County judge to scrutinize how the board reached its decision that Bernard violated patient privacy laws when she provided limited details about an abortion patient to an IndyStar reporter.

In a statement provided July 29, Bernard's legal team said it was evaluating "next steps."

Caitlin Bernard: Indiana doctor violated 10-year-old's privacy in abortion case, medical board finds

“In May, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board exonerated Dr. Caitlin Bernard on Attorney General Rokita’s most serious and baseless allegations," the statement, attributed to attorneys with the law firms DeLaney & DeLaney, Hoover Hull Turner and Arnold & Porter, read. "While we’re grateful that the board reaffirms this ruling in their written decision, we continue to dispute the MLB’s finding that Dr. Bernard violated patient privacy."

Bernard is still providing medical care, according to the statement.

Rokita's office, which can also challenge the decision, didn't have any comment when reached Saturday.

Letter and final order follow 15-hour hearing

The letter and final order were made public nearly two months after the board's 15-hour hearing in May over whether Bernard violated privacy laws and child abuse reporting requirements in her handling of the case of a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion.

Read the final order and letter of reprimand below.

Rokita's team argued during the hearing that Bernard ran afoul of the standards governing her profession because she shared details about the patient with IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at an abortion rights rally and didn't report the child's abuse to Indiana law enforcement.

Bernard did report the abuse to a social worker at IU Health, her employer, and Ohio law enforcement visited Indianapolis to collect evidence as they investigated the child's rapist. The board members overseeing the hearing unanimously agreed that Bernard properly reported the abuse, and that she's still fit to practice medicine.

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But a majority of the board did find that the information she disclosed amounted to violations of HIPAA federal privacy law, and state law stating doctors have to keep private all information about their patients. The information Bernard shared included the patient’s age, the state she was traveling from, the fact that she was pregnant and her gestational age.

Rokita lauded the board's decision.

"What if it was your child or your parent or your sibling who was going through a sensitive medical crisis, and the doctor, who you thought was on your side, ran to the press for political reasons?" his office said in a statement after the marathon hearing. "It’s not right, and the facts we presented today made that clear."

Licensing discipline experts previously told IndyStar a letter of reprimand and $3,000 fine amount to a slap on the wrist.

What does the final order say?

The final order summarizes the details discussed during the hearing and provides a timeline of events surrounding the case, starting from when Bernard was told about the patient by a doctor in Ohio around June 27, 2022.

Bernard told the IU Health social worker about the child on that date, and the next day the social worker passed that information along to child services authorities in Ohio.

Bernard attended an abortion rights rally on June 29, 2022, as Indiana was considering stricter abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. The doctor spoke with Rudavsky and another doctor about her patient at that rally.

On the same day as the rally the 10-year-old arrived at IU Health with her mom, according to the order. Bernard provided her abortion care the next day.

"This is not a normal case": Legal outcome murky in privacy ruling against Caitlin Bernard

The order states that HIPAA allows for disclosures in a few circumstances, including when a patient authorizes the release. Bernard "has not provided any information to demonstrate her disclosure ... fell within one of those limited circumstances," it states.

It also states disclosures under HIPAA can occur when information that could be used to identify the patient is removed. The order doesn't specify which details Bernard provided could have been used to identify the 10-year-old, instead saying that "when taken in their entirety" the disclosures to Rudavsky and the other doctor fell outside the bounds of HIPAA's allowances.

A HIPAA enforcement expert testifying on behalf of Rokita's team reached a similar conclusion during May's hearing. Andrew Mahler, former official with the federal Office for Civil Rights, said it “certainly is possible” the patient could have been identified.

'Chilling effect': National experts decry decision against abortion doctor Caitlin Bernard

But Donna Shalala, one of the authors of HIPAA, told IndyStar in May that no violation occurred, saying Bernard “was very careful in what she did reveal.” Shalala wasn't at the hearing.

During the hearing, Bernard gave insight as to why she decided to relate the patient's experience. "I think that it's incredibly important for people to understand the real-world impacts of the laws of this country," she said, when Rokita's attorneys asked why she didn't share a hypothetical story instead.

"That's not your patient's conclusion, right?" Indiana Deputy Attorney General Cory Voight replied.

"I can't know what her conclusion would be," Bernard said. "But I can imagine that she would also have knowledge and experience of the impact that the anti-abortion legislation in Ohio could have on her."

IndyStar reporter Brittany Carloni contributed.

Call IndyStar courts reporter Johnny Magdaleno at 317-273-3188 or email him at jmagdaleno@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Dr. Caitlin Bernard says she won't fight medical board's penalty