California Attorney General's Office and Osteopathic Medical Board of California Files Charges Against Bakersfield OB/GYN, Says Consumer Watchdog

Board Set To Discipline License of Repeat Offender Doctor

BAKERSFIELD, Calif., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Osteopathic Medical Board of California (OMBC) and the Attorney General's office filed an accusation of charges of gross negligence, and repeated negligent acts against Bakersfield OB/GYN Hans Chunghan Yu D.O. this week. Consumer Watchdog's work with families who lost loved ones to maternal negligence in Bakersfield spurred multiple families to come forward and report deaths and longterm harm due to negligent care by Dr. Yu. The Osteopathic Medical Board is pursuing charges for the harm done to three of those families.
 
Consumer Watchdog worked directly with one of the mothers, Susanna Talamantes, to write her daughter's death complaint. Susanna's daughter Laylianna died the same day that she had a regular office visit with Dr. Yu. Laylianna's death complaint is one of the three complaints that is responsible for the accusation brought against Dr. Yu's license. 
 
According to Susanna, her pregnancy was high risk because of her history of very high blood pressure. At an office visit just before her due date, Dr. Yu advised Susanna to not take her blood pressure medication before her next office visit so he could rush her in to an emergency c-section. Susanna followed the doctor's advice and appeared for her next office visit two weeks later without having taken blood pressure medication. Dr. Yu was aware her blood pressure was very high but told Susanna to meet him at the hospital later that day. Had Dr. Yu called an ambulance and sent Susanna to the hospital right away, her baby girl would have survived.
 
You can read more about Susanna's daughter Laylianna's story here.
 
"Dr. Yu knew that I was a high risk patient yet he chose to put my baby and I at risk. I trusted Dr. Yu. He told me I'm not supposed to tell you this but don't take your blood pressure medicine before your next office visit. Your blood pressure will be elevated and I can rush you in for an emergency c-section," stated Susanna Talamantes. "I followed his advice but he didn't send me directly to the hospital. He sent me home.  My baby Laylianna died and I will never be the same."
 
You can find Dr. Yu's enforcement accusation here.
 
Consumer Watchdog worked directly with the family of another of Dr. Yu's patients, Tracy Dominguez and Xavier De Leon, to write their death complaints on behalf of Demi Dominguez and her baby Malakhi De Leon. The Osteopathic Medical Board investigated Demi's complaint and found that her death was determined to be a simple departure from the standard of care which meant no discipline for Dr. Yu. Meanwhile, baby Malakhi's death complaint was left with no review for three years and was closed.
 
"Receiving the news that Demi's death complaint was closed with no discipline felt like I had lost my daughter all over again," stated Tracy Dominguez. "I felt defeated but also motivated to continue to advocate in my community along with Consumer Watchdog."
 
Dr. Hans Yu of Yu Medical Group previously worked with the former doctor Arthur Park who surrendered his license to practice medicine in 2021 after a 25 year history of harming mothers and babies in Bakersfield.  Eight families came forward with their stories of death and longterm harm to mothers and babies under the care of Dr. Yu. The Osteooathic Medical Board chose to pursue charges on behalf of three of those families.
 
"This was a three year effort to work with families to encourage them to come forward, file death and lifelong harm complaints, and continue to work with us to try to move these complaints through a complicated enforcement process," stated Michele Monserratt-Ramos, Kathy Olsen Patient Advocate at Consumer Watchdog. "This action taken by the Attorney General's Office and the Osteopathic Medical Board was fueled by a people powered campaign for justice,"
 
Consumer Watchdog's volunteer team of advocates have had to take extraordinary actions to move the Osteopathic Medical Board to take disciplinary action against this physician's license. Dr. Yu's accusation is only the fourth example of an accusation/charges that the Osteopathic Medical Board of California has filed since January 2024.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog