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Doctor in octuplet birth case under scrutiny

The medical license of a doctor who implanted 12 embryos into "Octomom" Nadya Suleman should be revoked because he put the lives of patients in jeopardy, a prosecutor says.
/ Source: The Associated Press

The medical license of a doctor who implanted 12 embryos into "Octomom" Nadya Suleman should be revoked because he put the lives of patients in jeopardy and remains a threat to others, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Deputy Attorney General Judith Alvarado alleged nine breaches of the California Medical Practice Act while saying the license of Dr. Michael Kamrava should be pulled.

In addition, Kamrava shrugged off his responsibility by blaming some of his patients for his own "bad acts," Alvarado told the California Medical Board at a license revocation hearing.

"Revocation is proper," Alvarado said. "It's the only way to ensure public protection."

Kamrava, a Beverly Hills fertility doctor, has said he implanted Suleman with a dozen embryos — six times the norm for a woman her age — before the pregnancy that resulted in her octuplets.

National guidelines issued by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine specify no more than two embryos are to be used in in vitro treatments for a healthy woman under 35. Suleman was 33 at the time of her last treatment.

The babies were born Jan. 26, 2009 and have become the longest-living set of octuplets in the world.

Kamrava's attorney, Henry Fenton, acknowledged at the hearing that his client had made bad choices but contended the flood of negative publicity brought on by the "Octomom" case prompted the revocation proceedings.

"That's the only thing that distinguishes this from a run-of-the-mill case where perhaps probation, a small order of probation, is imposed," Fenton said. "You have an excellent physician who is very concerned, who admits his mistakes, there was no great injuries, and you have an unusual patient who didn't do what she was asked to do with fetal reduction."

It was unclear when the board would make its decision. The process could take up to 60 days, with Kamrava and his attorney notified first.

In February, the board denied a proposed ruling by a judge to place Kamrava on five years of probation.