Report: Silver Spring Abortion Clinic Suspends Surgeries After Patient Death

Surgical abortion services at Associates in OB/GYN LLC in Silver Spring were temporarily suspended after a patient at an affiliated clinic in Baltimore died of cardiac arrest, Huffington Post reports. 

New requirements for abortion clinics by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene went into effect eight months ago, partially spurred by a failed procedure in Elkton in 2010. The department was recently criticized by legislators for being slow to enforce the rules after a teacher died at a Germantown abortion clinic last month, according to the report. 

State officials alleged that the physician who performed the abortion at Associates' North Calvert Street location wasn't CPR-certified and that the clinic's defibrillator wasn't working. 

Health department investigators said workers at the Silver Spring clinic, located on Georgia Avenue, left a patient alone for three minutes after she woke up, leaving the patient at risk for falling and becoming injured, the website reported. 

A third location for the clinic in Landover also was cited because a nurse did not know how to use a suction machine or a defibrillator, according to Huffington Post. 

A spokesperson for the clinics said non-surgical abortions and general obstetrics and gynecological services are still being performed. Associates hopes to have its license for surgical abortions restored soon, Huffington Post reported. 

Read more about the new regulations on abortion providers at The Huffington Post.