By Amber Frias, KGET NBC-TV, Bakersfield, CA
June 25, 2020
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – The medical license of a Bakersfield ob-gyn has been placed on probation for five years after allegations that gross negligence and repeated negligent acts led to a new mother’s death.
The same doctor previously was put on probation after allegations of gross negligence led to the deaths of two babies.
Dr. Park Medical Board Decision
Doctor Arthur Park, a Bakersfield ob-gyn with a history with the California Medical Board will be placed on five years probation.
While on probation, Park will be prohibited from delivering babies, acting as lead surgeon in out-patient surgery, treating women in late pregnancy, or engaging in the solo practice of medicine.
Park is still allowed to practice gynocology, however, once his probation period starts he must notify all new patients and current patients of the limits on his practice.
We reached out to Dr. Park for comment. After multiple attempts to reach him, his medical staff told us he declined to comment.
His lawyer also declined to comment.
The case resulting in Dr. Park’s probation involved 23-year-old Celeste Ortiz who died after giving birth in September 2016.
The baby was healthy, but an accusation filed by the medical board, says Park’s treatment of the young mother led to her death.
The state’s allegations say Park rushed the extraction of the mother’s placenta, causing traumatic laceration to the cervix and uterus which resulted in a hemorrhage.
Ortiz died several hours after her baby was born.
The medical board accused him of negligence and threatened to revoke his license.
Park agreed not to contest the allegations if the medical board gave him a suspension instead of revoking his license.
That’s the same agreement he made with the medical board sixteen years earlier when he was accused in connection with the deaths of two babies in 1996.
Those allegations say he induced labor too soon and didn’t properly handle the deliveries.
And there is a fourth allegation, this one in a lawsuit brought by a patient who died last year while the most recent medical board case against Dr. Park was pending.
“Every day we have to go through what it would be to have him around and have her be a mother, said Tracy Dominguez.
Dominguez is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, filed against Park last year regarding the death of her daughter Demi Dominguez and grandson Malaki.
Tracy Dominguez is upset Park’s license was not revoked and that the probation didn’t go into effect sooner.
According to the lawsuit, Demi Dominguez was treated by doctor Park for swelling and elevated blood pressure on April 15.
She was given medication and told to monitor her blood pressure at home and see another doctor on April 17.
On April 17 she visited Dr. Hans C. Yu as she was instructed. Two days later Demi Dominguez was brought back to the hospital after she was found unconscious at home.
We tried reaching out to Dr. Yu’s office multiple times but his receptionists didn’t put us through to him. They told us he had no comment and hung up the phone.
“We walked up to labor and delivery and that’s when the nightmare begins,” said Dominguez.
Demi died after delivering her baby boy. Her newborn son, Malaki, died later that day.
The suit says Dr. Yu and Dr. Park were negligent in that they failed to properly evaluate the seriousness of Dominguez’s condition.
“I’ll never trust doctors again,” said Dominguez. “Especially here in Bakersfield.”
The Dominguez family didn’t know Park had been on probation earlier, or that a second case was pending against him.
“We would’ve never gone to his office if I would’ve known,” said Dominguez.
After her daughter and grandson’s death, Dominguez has dedicated her time to trying to find a way to make doctor’s records more easily accessible.
“If someone would’ve done this for me and Demi, she would’ve been alive,” said Dominguez.
Beginning this Friday, Dr. Park will have to tell patients about the limitations on his practice.
A call to action has also been created by Consumer Watchdog and the Dominguez’ family to help ensure other women aren’t harmed by Dr. Park. The non-profit organization, which advocates for consumers, is asking the public to write to Senator Shannon Grove and Senator Melissa Hurtado and urge them to contact the state medical board about Dr. Park.
