Tucson Ob/Gyn Accused Of Misconduct Surrenders License

TUCSON, AZ — A Tucson doctor of obstretics and gynecology, Cynthia G. Funckes, has surrendered her medical license following an Arizona Medical Board review ruling that she provided inferior medical care in three separate cases, one of which allegedly resulted in a newborn’s death.

The accused Funckes, 67, surrendered her medical license Friday following a medical board review that upheld accusations against her in three cases, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Funckes worked in Willcox and Sierra Vista and was associated with Genesis Ob/Gyn and Harmony Ob/Gyn in Tucson too. In the case of the infant death she is accused of, a past-due 26-year-old pregnant woman received labor-inducing drugs, but still had not given birth two days later. A fetal heartbeat monitor showed the baby’s heartbeat per minute at approximately 80, while the international guidelines state it should be 110 to 160.

It was then determined that the monitor was not working correctly, so a handheld ultrasound unit was brought in instead and operated by a nurse. The ultrasound measured a heartbeat around 90 per minute. Funckes then used a vacuum device to attempt to pull the baby out by its head. However, after a few tries, the device came loose and there was no fetal heartbeat.

Next Funckes performed a Cesarean section, during which an umbilical cord knot was found, resulting in the baby’s death by massive pulmonary hemorrhage.

While the doctor says she did nothing wrong, the board said she didn’t properly monitor the baby’s heartbeat, which was “unprofessional conduct.”

Read the full story at the Arizona Daily Star.