Niece Says She Moved Man to 2nd Hospital : Testimony: A State Medical Board panel is investigating charges that an emergency room doctor denied treatment to a 67-year-old man who was uninsured.

The niece of a man who allegedly was denied emergency treatment at Panorama Community Hospital testified Thursday that it was she--not the hospital’s emergency physician--who decided to take the man to a county hospital because he was not insured.

The testimony of Laura Sulit of Arleta supported defense attorneys’ contentions that Dr. Stephen C. Acosta did not refuse to treat 67-year-old Felix Talag when he came to the hospital’s emergency room April 11, 1987.

Acosta could lose his medical license if charges that he denied treatment to Talag are upheld by a state Medical Board panel, which has been holding a hearing into the matter this week in downtown Los Angeles.

Sulit said Acosta told her that her uncle needed to be admitted to Panorama hospital to undergo further treatment.

Talag went to the privately owned Panorama City hospital because he had been vomiting blood and felt dizzy. He was allowed to go to Olive View Medical Center even though his vital signs were unstable and he was bleeding internally, experts testified. He eventually recovered.

The medical board has accused Acosta of illegally “dumping” Talag because of concerns that the man could not pay for treatment. The four-member panel is expected to conclude its hearing today.

Sulit, a Philippine native who spoke in halting English during her testimony, said she didn’t want her uncle to be treated at the hospital “because Panorama hospital is an expensive hospital.”

“I said, ‘Please help me doctor. I cannot afford to pay for this hospital. Please help me find a different hospital.’ ”

Sulit said Acosta gave her the name of Olive View Medical Center after she said she could not afford Panorama.

“I was very thankful that he gave me that recommendation,” Sulit said.

Under cross-examination by Deputy Atty. Gen. Gloria Barrios, however, Sulit said Acosta did not mention that her uncle could have been treated at Panorama hospital even if he couldn’t afford it, an omission that other witnesses said could have violated generally accepted standards of medical conduct.

Sulit also said that Acosta did not tell her that her uncle’s vital signs were unstable, and that he did not ask her to sign a statement that she and her uncle were refusing treatment against the doctor’s advice. Doctors routinely fill out so-called “against medical advice” forms to protect them from liability when patients refuse to be treated, experts have testified in the hearing.

Acosta’s attorney, John Harwell, said his client did not fill out such a form because he did not believe the family would sue him for malpractice. But Acosta was unaware that the state would take him to task for the incident, Harwell said.

Before Sulit testified, a Panorama hospital nurse who worked with Acosta testified that the doctor spent more time with patients and their families than did most emergency physicians.

“I think he’s a superb physician,” Ronald Stinnitt said. “He has a good bedside manner.”