A Grand Rapids doctor who specializes in urogynecology was charged with a felony after practicing with a suspended license.
Fifty-two-year-old Husam Thamin Abed of Sterling Heights was charged with one felony count of unauthorized practice of a health profession. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.
Abed is said to have continued to treat minors for vaginal conditions they didn’t have, including preforming an unnecessary hysterectomy.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs investigated the doctor’s urogynecology practice at his Grand Rapids office. An administrative complaint was filed against him on May 17, 2022. The complaint accused Abed of “negligence, incompetence, and lack of good moral character,” according to the Michigan Attorney General’s office.
The allegations arose from several cases involving girls as young as age 13. Dr. Abed used pessaries, which are removable devices that are inserted into the vagina to provide support in a prolapse. This occurs when the muscles and ligaments supporting a woman’s pelvic organs weaken and create a bulge in the vagina.
A review of the Abed’s patient records showed that he performed treatments on minors that “fell below the standard of care,” and that he performed a surgery that was not indicated.
In the case of one 19-year-old patient, Abed is said to have started treating her in 2022 for mixed urinary incontinence and a history of pelvic pain and defecatory dysfunction. He performed a pelvic exam without the requested chaperone and allegedly advised her that her previously diagnosed conditions of interstitial cystitis and endometriosis didn’t exist and was fitted with a pessary device.
When the patient refused an upsized pessary device at a follow-up appointment, the physician allegedly told the patient that her only option at that time was surgery, including hysterectomy, sacrocolpopexy, and a midurethral sling. Dr. Abed is alleged to have then performed the procedures, despite the fact that there was no indication for hysterectomy or sacrocolpopexy, the patient never had children, and without first recommending or referring her for more conservative treatment options. After the procedure, the patient is alleged to have experienced severe pain, as well as an increase in complications. Abed did not help her with the follow-up. As a result, the patient required revisional surgery to address her complications.
“Given the intrusive nature of respondent’s practices and the irreparable harm to at least one patient, respondent poses an immediate threat to the public’s health, safety, and welfare,” the State Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs wrote in the complaint.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that based on the allegations in the administrative complaint, and in consultation with the Board of Medicine, LARA executed a summary suspension of the physician’s license to practice medicine on May 23, 2022.
However, both LARA and Nessel conducted additional investigations into allegations that Abed treated a patient on May 28, 2022.
“A physician who knowingly violates the inherent trust patients place in their doctors does irreparable damage,” Nessel said in a statement. “I encourage anyone with concerns about the conduct and practices of this physician to report their concerns to my department.”
The complaint against Abed said, “there is no accepted standard of care in which the use of pessary devices in minor patients is an appropriate or accepted treatment option.”
In medical malpractice cases, the definition of the standard of care is based on the customary practices of the average provider. Thus, a physician’s actions (or inaction) are determined on what a reasonably competent provider with the same level of training would have done under the circumstances. If the doctor’s actions were not reasonable, based on what a similarly-trained professional would have done, the provider is considered to be negligent.
“A physician who knowingly violates the inherent trust patients place in their doctors does irreparable damage,” the Attorney General said in a statement.
For a free consultation with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in Michigan, contact Buchanan Firm. We have talked to many young women who treated with Dr. Abed and we can give you answers.
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