Obstetrician’s Medical License Revoked After Investigation of Injuries to Infants

State health officials have revoked the medical license of a longtime Long Beach obstetrician who they say injured four infants by prematurely administering anesthesia to mothers in labor, then using forceps improperly during delivery.

Dr. Archibald F. Forster, 67, was ordered by the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance to surrender the medical license he was first issued in 1954. Investigators determined his actions were “so far below the accepted standard of care” that they constituted “gross negligence and incompetence,” according to the decision rendered March 18 and made public last week.

Forster said his license expired last October, and that he did not seek to renew it. He said he retired four years ago after Long Beach hospitals refused to allow him on staff, and that he has not delivered a baby since.

The investigation centered on four babies delivered by Forster at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach between October, 1984, and July, 1985. In every case, Forster administered spinal anesthesia too early, leaving the mother unable to assist in the delivery, according to records.

To correct such an “egregious error,” Forster pulled the infants with forceps, a medically sanctioned procedure under certain circumstances, but one that poses “demonstrable risk” to the mother and child, the documents said.

As a result, investigators alleged:

* A baby boy born to Seng Chom on Oct. 28, 1984, suffered nerve paralysis due to “excessive traction applied by forceps.”

* A baby girl born to Heang Lay Let on April 16, 1985, suffered a right ear cut that required stitches.

* A baby girl born to Rina Sun on June 10, 1985, suffered multiple minor forceps marks.

* A baby girl born to Chhoeung Svay on July 30, 1985, suffered nerve paralysis due to excessive traction.

“In none of the cases was there any showing of fetal distress which would have justified forceps intervention,” investigators concluded.

The board’s investigation began in late 1986 but a judgment was not rendered for more than two years. Officials said medical experts retained by the state board to review Forster’s procedures took months to render an opinion.

The board has long been criticized for moving too slowly and too secretly in taking action in such cases.

“It’s not acceptable,” board spokesman Vern Leeper said of the delay in Forster’s case. “But I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary.”

Leeper said nothing would have precluded Forster from practicing elsewhere had he so chosen. “We can’t pull the license until the due process system goes through,” Leeper said.

In an interview, Forster said he practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 29 years at St. Mary Medical Center and was also on the staffs of other area hospitals.

His license expired last October and he did not bother to renew it, he said. St. Mary officials confirmed that he practiced there until April, 1984, but would not discuss his performance or the reason he left.

Forster said the license revocation was motivated by politics and jealousy because he refused to perform abortions, always accepted poor patients and built a practice that was larger and more successful than most of his peers.

“I was given trouble every place I went,” he said. “I took care of anybody who wanted my service. . . . I had the biggest practice of anyone on the staff at St. Mary. . . . The jealousy was there.”

“I had the cleanest record,” he added.