By Cheryl Sullenger
San Diego, CA – Allyson Smith was appalled by the recent video showing Robert Santella, an abortionist with the Family Planning Associates abortion facility in San Diego, growling in a demonic “freak-out” at another pro-life activist.
In the widely published video, Santella is seen emerging from the abortion facility to confront a pro-life activist. He is heard hissing and growling in a demonic voice as he holds scissors to the pro-lifer’s throat while professing that he loves killing babies and that, “I never listen to Christ.”
“I do have a darkened heart,” Santella snarled. “I do, I do. Very much so.”
Smith noticed that during his rant, Santella wore an identification badge from Sharp Healthcare, a group of hospitals throughout San Diego County.
Due to her long-time involvement in the pro-life movement, Smith knew exactly what to do. She posted to her Facebook page that she contacted Sharp Healthcare via e-mail on the morning of June 17.
Hi there, I would like to bring this video to your attention. The crazed doctor in this video is Robert Santella, who performs abortions at Family Planning Associates on Miramar Road. You’ll notice he is wearing a Sharp Healthcare ID tag. A quick Internet search reveals that he is affiliated with Grossmont Hospital. Why is this “doctor” allowed to be affiliated with Grossmont Hospital? He is nuts and should be fired. What will you do about him? Thanks.
Smith included a link to a story on LifeSite News that featured the video of the incident.
Soon, she received a reply from Sharp’s Grossmont Hospital:
Hi Allyson:
Thank you for your message. We appreciate your concerns regarding this physician, and we can assure you that he is no longer affiliated with any of our hospitals, he is not employed by our medical groups, and he does not practice or have admitting privileges at any of our facilities. We are currently looking into other aspects of this matter, and we will provide updates as we have more information.
“This is a great example of how much can be accomplished with just a little smartly directed effort,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, which protested Santella regularly in the 1990s and early 2000s before relocating to Kansas. “Allyson’s letter will probably save a lot women from being subjected to Santella’s unstable behavior.”
Smith also noticed that recent disciplinary action had been filed by the California Medical Board against Santella.
The Board Accusation, filed on May 20, 2016, charges Santella with negligence and unprofessional conduct that “demonstrates an unfitness to practice medicine.”
The allegations detail his conduct with five female patients that received dangerous drugs from Santella over the course of up to 25 years. He failed to conduct physical exams before administering drugs, failed to record fact he administered drugs to them in the patient medical records, and failed to monitor the patients’ other serious conditions.
The Board Accusation also notes Santella’s previous discipline should be taken into consideration. In 2000, Santella’s medical license was revoked for failing to maintain adequate medical records. That revocation was stayed and Santella served four years on probation.
The current accusation represents a repeat offense that endangered the health of his patients.
Operation Rescue also has documentation that Santella served five years of probation in a 1984 disciplinary case that involved serious patient care issues for three female patients:
• Santella conducted a hysterectomy on a patient who had undergone an elective abortion one month prior to the surgery. He failed to respond when her post-operative condition deteriorated, and left the hospital after a second surgery before she had stabilized.
• Santella admitted a woman to the hospital for pelvic inflammatory disease, but didn’t bother to check on her for 25 hours after her admittance. It was later learned that Santella had misdiagnosed her actual condition, which was a urinary tract infection.
• Santella failed to recognize the danger signs of pre-eclampsia in another of his patients and delayed hospital admission for two days, resulting in the still birth of her baby.
“If only the California Medical Board had taken stronger measures with Santella when he showed incompetence in 1984 and 2000, a lot of human misery could have been avoided,” said Newman. “Some people are not fit to practice medicine, and Robert Santella is among them. We pray the Medical Board will take sterner measures to limit his options so he will be forced to look for another line of work. We also pray he gets the spiritual and mental health assistance he obviously requires.”
