By Kerry Klein, KVPR
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A Kern County obstetrician has been ordered to temporarily stop practicing medicine for not upholding a condition of medical probation.
Dr. Hans Yu, an osteopathic physician with a practice in Bakersfield, has been treating women and delivering babies in the city since 2006. But last May, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, which licenses doctors of osteopathic medicine, placed Yu’s medical license on probation after accusing him of gross negligence.
Then, earlier in January, the licensing board ordered him to cease practicing because he “failed to pass” a competency exam that was a required condition of probation. It’s unclear if he failed the exam or never took one within the required timeframe.
The accusations against Yu, which include gross negligence and repeated negligent acts, maintain that he departed from the standard of care in his treatment of three patients – including one who delivered a stillborn baby and another who suffered serious complications after hemorrhaging during labor.
“Respondent’s unprofessional conduct involved departures from the standard of care regarding three obstetrical patients between 2018 and 2021,” reads the licensing board’s decision from May 2025. “The quality of care respondent provided to the patients was deficient, which is a matter of serious concern to the Board.”
Yu was also one of the doctors who missed the signs of the dangerous, high blood pressure condition known as pre-eclampsia in a pregnant woman in 2019. Within a few days of seeing Yu, 23-year-old Demi Dominguez died – as did her son, who lived for only a few hours after being delivered via postpartum C-section. Dominguez’s story was the subject of an award-winning KVPR series examining an infant and maternal mortality crisis in Kern County.
Although Dominguez’s family submitted a complaint to the osteopathic medical board after her death, her case was not included in the accusation against Yu. Her case did contribute, however, to accusations of gross negligence against Dr. Arthur Park, the other obstetrician who treated Dominguez in the days before her death. Park surrendered his license in 2021.
The non-profit advocacy group Consumer Watchdog celebrated the disciplinary actions taken against Yu. Patient advocates with the organization have spent years collecting firsthand testimonials about adverse labor and delivery experiences in Bakersfield – including from patients in the care of both Yu and Park.
“This action taken by the Attorney General’s Office and the Osteopathic Medical Board was fueled by a people-powered campaign for justice,” said Consumer Watchdog Patient Advocate Michele Monserratt-Ramos in a press release. “This latest disciplinary action would not have occurred without the work of families across Bakersfield who filed complaints, participated in medical board meetings, and testified before the legislature.”
Yu is not permitted to treat patients until he passes the exam, which he is allowed to take multiple times. If he passes it, he is placed back on probation, which extends until May 2030. Under probation, Yu would be allowed to directly treat patients, while submitting quarterly reports to the board and being subject to additional surveillance and interviews with medical consultants.
At the time of his probation sentencing, he was also required to enroll in two additional professional development courses, and to pay $70,000 to the osteopathic medical board.
Until Yu’s probationary status is restored, Monserratt-Ramos said Yu agreed to transfer his patients to other physicians. However, she said not all physicians in the region are accepting new patients or accept all forms of insurance, and patients – many of whom are pregnant and scrambling to find a doctor as their due date approaches – are confused.
When asked what Yu’s obligations are to his patients at this time, a spokesperson for the osteopathic medical board implied that most responsibilities for finding routine care fall upon the patients.
“When a physician ceases to practice, they must provide patients with advance notice and ensure access to emergency care for at least 15–30 days after notification,” reads an email from board spokesperson Ebenezer Arreola. “Patients may accept the transfer to a new doctor, choose their own physician, request copies of records or have them sent to a new provider, or decline the suggested transition and seek care elsewhere entirely.”