Kooba was working as OB/GYN at Kaiser
The Medical Board of California has revoked the license of a Healdsburg obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) who allegedly entered into a sexual relationship with a patient.
According to a state medical board press release, the revocation of Dr. Austin Merritt Kooba’s license was effective on Feb. 8.
“While serving as an OB/GYN for Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, Kooba befriended his patient and subsequently began an intimate relationship with her,” read the press release.
“The inappropriate relationship between Dr. Kooba and his patient is an egregious violation of the law and especially concerning to the board,” said Kimberly Kirchmeyer, the medical board’s executive director.
According to Kirchmeyer, the affair between Kooba and his patient, who eventually began working as a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa’s Labor and Delivery Unit, began in October of 2013 and lasted until June 2014.
The medical board press release states that: “In February 2014, the nurse learned that she was pregnant and in an attempt to conceal the relationship from his then-wife, Kooba prescribed Misoprostol, a drug that can induce miscarriages, to abort the baby.”
The medical board report states that after the abortion, the relationship began to deteriorate and the woman reported the affair to her employers and to the state.
During the investigation process, investigators learned that Kooba had backdated the prescription of Misoprostol to conceal the affair from his employers and inappropriately provided the woman with bereavement counseling.
Kooba’s attorney, Candice Clipner, declined to respond to a request for comment.
— Ray Holley
