Physician Is Accused by State of Malpractice : Medicine: Charges cite five 1987 births attended by the doctor criticized in a 1990 New Year’s incident.

Dr. Charles W. Turner Jr., the Anaheim physician who timed a birth so he could deliver Orange County’s first baby of 1990 and display her on an evangelical television show, has been accused of gross negligence and malpractice in five 1987 obstetrical cases.

Jana L. Tuton, a deputy state attorney general who filed the charges on behalf of the Medical Board of California, said Tuesday that she is seeking to revoke or suspend Turner’s medical license.

Although no mother or baby cited in the June 27 complaint appears to have suffered lasting harm, “the board feels many of the procedures (Turner) used created an unnecessary risk to both,” Tuton said.

Among other things, the board alleges that Turner failed to screen a high-risk mother for diabetes and did not diagnose a “breech”--or buttocks-first--presentation of the baby until after the mother had been in labor for about 10 hours.

All the cases in question involve care provided at Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center. Tuton said investigation began when Turner was suspended from obstetrical practice at the hospital in 1988. Turner has continued to practice medicine at the Lestonnac Clinic in Orange and at his own Covenant Birthing Center in Anaheim.

Reached between appointments at the Lestonnac community clinic, Turner, a general practitioner, said he was unaware of the charges and declined comment on them.

Turner drew criticism from Orange County physicians last January after he used “saddle block” anesthesia and forceps at his Anaheim birthing center to deliver a baby seconds into the new year. He then tucked the healthy, 6-pound, 12-ounce girl into a Christmas stocking and whisked her to nearby Melodyland Christian Center where she was displayed on a national religious telecast.

Tuton said the New Year’s incident is still being investigated by medical board experts and is not part of the current complaint.

At the time, Turner vehemently defended his actions, saying that “the baby was delivered safely. And I see nothing wrong with taking the baby and showing it to the 4,000” people gathered at nearby Melodyland’s midnight service.

In a separate interview in late January, Turner said he was then delivering babies safely at his private birthing center at the rate of about 30 a month.

In the medical board’s June 27 accusations, Tuton cites five 1987 cases that allegedly involved “unprofessional conduct,” gross negligence and incompetence. As is common in board actions, the accusation protects patient confidentiality, using the initials rather than the names of maternity patients under Turner’s cared.

If Turner contests the charges, the case will be heard by an administrative law judge or a medical board review committee.

Among the allegations:

* A woman called O.S. had her labor induced by the drug pitocin “without medical indication.” Also, the board said, Turner failed to diagnose a breech presentation until O.S. had been in labor for about 10 hours.

In an interview, Tuton said the “standard of care is that you can diagnose (a breech delivery) long before that. . . . Those are very high-risk deliveries. It’s important to diagnose very early on.”

* Turner, on Feb. 25, 1987, provided prenatal and obstetrical care to patient G.S. but “failed to diagnose” growth retardation in the developing baby before labor began. The baby, born that March 5, weighed only 4 pounds, 3 ounces. Tuton contended that it was “a high-risk situation that was not properly attended to” by Turner.

* Turner failed to screen a high-risk, 31-year-old patient identified as M.A. for diabetes.

* Also in the case of M.A. and another woman, E.H., Turner “artificially ruptured” their amniotic membranes before the babies’ heads entered the birth canal, creating “unnecessary risk” for the babies. After rupturing of the membranes, the umbilical cord could have fallen down the birth canal ahead of the baby, and if that had happened the cord might not have been able to supply oxygen and the baby could have died, Tuton said.

* In the case of patient R.P., Turner allegedly violated standards of obstetrical care by failing to notify hospital surgeons or pediatric support that she was having twins and might need emergency care.

Asked to comment on the board’s complaint, Dr. Thomas J. Garite, chief of obstetrics at UCI Medical Center, noted that he had not seen the medical records and could not address the specifics. However, he said many of the allegedly negligent actions cited by the board appeared to involve judgment calls.

He noted, for instance, that a diagnosis of a baby’s breech position generally should be made when the woman in labor is admitted “but there can be extenuating circumstances.” Also, sometimes actions like artificially rupturing a woman’s membranes are appropriate--even when the baby’s head is not engaged in the birth canal, Garite said, adding, “I’ve done that many times.”

According to the medical board, Turner graduated from the University of Arkansas medical school in 1950 and was licensed to practice in California in 1953.

When asked about the complaint Tuesday, Turner suggested that the charges may involve another physician with the same name.

But Tuton said she is confident they have the right doctor. She noted that the board’s records on alleged negligence at Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center show that doctor had the same medical license number as the Dr. Turner who raced to deliver the first baby of 1990 at his Anaheim birthing center.

Turner was reached at the Lestonnac Clinic after a receptionist at his Anaheim office directed a reporter there.

According to state records, the medical board in 1984 accused Turner of illegally prescribing dangerous drugs and placed his license on five years’ probation. At the same time he pleaded no contest in Orange County misdemeanor court in a related case and was placed on three years’ criminal probation and fined $15,000.

Still, in a hearing on the drug-dispensing case, Administrative Law Judge W. F. Burns in February, 1984, wrote that Turner “has a reputation as a competent, conscientious physician with a special interest in good care of patients.” Though Burns found Turner guilty of professional misconduct, his license was reinstated in full last year.

According to Orange County court records, Turner was sued in 1988 for “wrongful death” by the parents of infant Ana Asia. The suit alleged that Turner caused the baby’s death on Oct. 3, 1987, by failing to perform a “timely” Cesarean section. That lawsuit is not now part of the medical’s board’s June case, Tuton said Tuesday, but state investigators are still looking at court files.