Judge Bars Klvana From Practicing Medicine

A Valencia obstetrician facing criminal charges in the deaths of seven newborns was ordered Wednesday to stop practicing medicine.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Miriam A. Vogel issued a temporary restraining order against Dr. Milos Klvana, 47, at the request of the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance. Klvana, in custody pending a bail hearing today, was arrested in October, 1986, and is awaiting trial on six counts of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter.

The board’s request for the temporary restraining order said that, if Klvana were allowed to practice medicine, “. . . serious injury will result to the public.” The board sought the order in the event that he should be released today or during the criminal case, authorities said. Vogel scheduled a hearing for March 18 on the order.

Klvana’s bail was revoked last month after the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office alleged that Klvana posed a danger to the public by practicing medicine and that there was a risk he might flee to avoid trial. Klvana had been released in November on $200,000 bail a month after his bail was reduced from $750,000.

Klvana’s attorneys contend that the doctor technically was free to practice medicine because he had an unrestricted medical license.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Linda J. Vogel, who is not related to the judge, said that evidence that Klvana intended to practice medicine while on bail surfaced when, on Dec. 11, he applied for a Drug Enforcement Administration permit to possess federally regulated drugs.

Besides, Vogel said, Klvana in January prescribed two hormones to a medical board investigator posing as a patient without ever examining her.

Klvana’s attorneys filed a motion Wednesday to reinstate bail, arguing that the state medical board “sanctioned the practice of medicine by Dr. Klvana when they allowed him to retain his valid license” after his arrest.

“The fact that BMQA took no affirmative steps to restrict Dr. Klvana’s license is a clear indication of their opinion that he is not a danger to the community . . . ,” said the motion, which was filed before the temporary restraining order was issued against Klvana.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Vogel said that the medical board first took action to revoke Klvana’s license in 1986, shortly after his arrest, but that action is pending because Klvana requested that the revocation hearing be held at the conclusion of the criminal case.

Authorities had also hoped that a conviction could be used against Klvana’s holding a license, Vogel said. The fact that Klvana held an unrestricted medical license had not been an issue because he had been in custody, she said.

The reduction of Klvana’s bail and his release “took us by surprise,” Vogel said.

Klvana’s assistant, midwife Delores Doyle, 35, of Montclair also is awaiting trial on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. She remains in custody on $200,000 bail.