Doctor charged in abortion death

BOSTON, July 17 (UPI) -- A Boston doctor has been indicted for manslaughter in the Cape Cod, Mass., death last year of a 22-year-old woman during an abortion procedure.

Dr. Rapin Osathanondh allegedly failed to monitor Laura Hope Smith, 22, while she was under anesthesia during the September, 2007 procedure. Prosecutors also allege he delayed resuscitation of Smith after she stopped breathing and then lied about his actions, the Boston Globe reported Thursday.

"Suffice it to say, there was an inattention to the kinds of procedures of a lifesaving nature that one would expect in a place where an operation with anesthesia is being performed," Michael O'Keefe, district attorney for the Cape area, told the Globe. "There was nobody monitoring her, long enough to result in her death. There were a number of other shortcomings that make up the willful, wanton, and reckless conduct."

Osathanondh's attorney, Paul Cirel, said his client will plead not guilty, although he has already voluntarily given up his medical license in Massachusetts.

"This is a tragedy that sometimes happens in medicine, but it happens; patients die inexplicably in the course of even routine procedures. ... This is not a matter that belongs in the criminal courts," he said.