Gynecologist Fails to Show Up for Court Case : Litigation: Dr. Ivan C. Namihas, accused of sexually molesting patients, was to testify in another doctor’s malpractice suit. His lawyer says he is in the Dominican Republic.

Dr. Ivan C. Namihas, accused of sexually molesting or improperly treating 160 of his patients, failed to honor a summons to appear in court Wednesday because he is helping to build houses for the poor in the Dominican Republic, his lawyer said.

Superior Court Judge Francisco F. Firmat had said Tuesday that if Namihas, a Tustin gynecologist, did not appear Wednesday morning to testify in a malpractice case, he would issue a warrant for his arrest.

Although Namihas did not show up, his attorney, Paul Meyer, appeared on his behalf and told Firmat that the doctor left California on Saturday and would not return until next Wednesday.

Meyer said he would attempt to contact the doctor and make sure he appears in court by Wednesday. The judge signed the arrest warrant, which had been sought by an attorney for the plaintiff in the malpractice case, but agreed not to seek its immediate enforcement after Meyer assured him that Namihas would obey the subpoena.

Meyer, who was retained to defend Namihas in the event he faces any criminal charges for the alleged sexual abuse of his patients, told Firmat that Namihas must have misunderstood the requirements of the subpoena because he never mentioned to Meyer that he had been ordered to appear.

Outside court, Meyer declined to name the organization with which Namihas was reportedly working in the Dominican Republic, saying he did not want the group unfairly subjected to news media scrutiny. But Meyer scoffed at the suggestion that Namihas had “fled” the country in the wake of a March 13 court order temporarily shutting down his medical practice.

“That’s absolutely false,” Meyer said. “Every year, Dr. Namihas gives time, money and energy to assist the poor in foreign countries, and this year he did it in the Dominican Republic. Until this year, I might add, he hasn’t gotten any recognition for his humanitarian work.”

The lawyer who served Namihas with the subpoena--only hours before an Orange County Superior Court commissioner stopped his practice--said the doctor mentioned that he would be leaving the country but did not say anything about performing charitable work on the trip.

“He looked at (the subpoena) and said he was going to be out of the country,” James Bishop said. “He said he was going to the Dominican Republic to renew his medical license. He said: ‘That’s probably the only place I’m going to be able to practice.’ ”

Bishop and his partner, Roseline Warner, are representing Celia Herrera in the malpractice case being heard in Firmat’s court. The suit was originally filed against Namihas and another doctor, Sergio Mandiola, but Namihas settled with the plaintiff before the trial started. The attorneys for the plaintiff are seeking his testimony as a witness in hopes that his testimony will buttress their case against Mandiola.

Herrera, the plaintiff, had included Namihas in the suit because she claimed that she developed complications from a vaginal cut when Namihas delivered her baby. The complications required that she undergo a colostomy, and Mandiola, who performed the surgery, remains a defendant in the lawsuit.

It could not be immediately confirmed whether Namihas had ever been granted a license to practice medicine in the Dominican Republic. But a professor there said it is not easy to transfer American medical credentials to that country.

Dr. Gregory Kaplinger, professor of immunology at Dominican University in Santo Domingo, said applicants for licensure there are asked whether they have been under investigation in any other country. An applicant’s academic degrees, licenses and credentials are checked and licensing boards consulted about any disciplinary action, Kaplinger said.

Future licensees must take a lengthy medical examination in Spanish and must perform a year of government service before beginning their practice, he said.

Namihas’ medical future in the United States is uncertain. The California Medical Board is moving to permanently revoke his license, having received more than 160 complaints from patients who allege that he molested them or subjected them to unnecessary or improper medical treatment.

The Orange County district attorney is also investigating possible criminal charges against him. And the three hospitals where Namihas had privileges--Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Tustin Hospital Medical Center in Tustin and St. Joseph Hospital in Orange--have suspended them.

Namihas vacated his office a few hours before the court ordered his practice shut down. Officials at Tustin Hospital Medical Center, which owns the building, said his suite has now been leased to another doctor.

“We don’t anticipate he’ll be back,” said Michael Halberta, executive director of the hospital.

Despite the controversy around the doctor, however, he still has loyal patients such as Cindy Pratt, who saw him from 1973 to 1979.

“He was an excellent physician,” said Pratt, 38, who now lives in Oregon and credits Namihas with saving one of her children from near-fatal complications during delivery.

“He was always concerned and he cared. I always felt I was in good hands.”