- September 18, 2024
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An administrative law judge Tuesday recommended a one-year license suspension for a physician after patients at a Pensacola abortion clinic suffered complications that required hospitalization.
Judge W. David Watkins issued a 36-page recommended order that also called for permanently restricting physician Christopher Saputa from performing any obstetrical and gynecological surgery.
Under administrative law, the recommended order will go to the Florida Board of Medicine for a final decision.
Watkins’ recommendation came after the state Agency for Health Care Administration last month issued a final order revoking the license of the Pensacola clinic, which did business as American Family Planning.
The Agency for Health Care Administration in May 2022 issued an emergency suspension of the clinic’s license and followed later by seeking revocation.
Watkins’ recommendation about Saputa focused on three patients who went to the clinic for abortions.
In one of the cases, for example, a woman identified by the initials K.J. went to the clinic in March 2022 for a second-trimester abortion. She was injured in the procedure and suffered what Watkins described as “massive blood loss.” She had to be rushed to a hospital emergency room, where she ended up needing a total hysterectomy, Watkins wrote.