Obstetrician Loses License Over 4 Injuries
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.
Dr. Archibald F. Forster, 67, was ordered by the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance to surrender the medical license he was 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 made public this week.
The investigation centered on four babies delivered by Forster at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach between October, 1984, and July, 1985.
Forster 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. He said his license expired last October.
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