brigham arrest
For Immediate Release
Contact: Troy Newman or Cheryl Sullenger at 316-683-6790.
Trenton, NJ – Operation Rescue has submitted a letter of complaint to Deputy Attorney General Jeri Warhaftig urging her office to disallow the alleged transfer of Steven Chase Brigham’s New Jersey abortion businesses to Vikram Kaji, an abortionist who worked for Brigham for years and has a history as a sex offender.
Brigham was ordered to divest himself from the eight abortion businesses he operated in New Jersey under the American Women Services banner after his medical license was revoked last year. New Jersey allows only licensed providers to operate medical facilities.
“The transfer of Brigham’s abortion clinics to Kaji is completely offensive and unacceptable. It is shocking that Kaji is even allowed to practice medicine, given his background of sex abuse, drug violations, and negligence,” said Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor for Operation Rescue, who wrote the complaint. “We are asking for the State to disallow the transfer of Brigham’s abortion businesses to Kaji, and order them to close immediately.”
Kaji was convicted by the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners in 1993 for having improper sexual contact with three patients. Kaji reportedly had sex with one young girl at his office during business hours and later plied her with drugs. He knew his victim was vulnerable to his advances because she had been a depressed victim of child sex abuse with a history of psychiatric hospitalization. Kaji admitted that he had made an error in moral judgment.
Kaji was also accused of giving improper breast and rectal exams to two other women.
The NJBME placed Kaji on a 1-year suspension and fined him $5,000 and ordered him to undergo psychological counseling.
The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency revoked Kaji’s license to prescribe controlled substances in 1994. Also that year, Pennsylvania suspended Kaji for 36 months. The New York Medical Board revoked Kaji’s medical license for “sexual misconduct and drug abuse” in 1995, and banned him from practicing in that state.
In May 2013, the NJBME issued an order against Kaji, which revealed that inspections of Brigham’s abortion facilities uncovered numerous safety violations. The Board found that Kaji had “failed to adequately fulfill his responsibilities as Medical Director.”
Kaji recently suffered a stroke that impaired his memory and vision, raising questions about his ability to continue practicing.
“Now, women face the dreadful prospect of Kaji operating Brigham’s very busy abortion clinics without Brigham’s oversight, as shoddy as that oversight may have been. This poses an unacceptable risk to women who are now vulnerable to sexual exploitation at these abortion facilities,” said Sullenger.
Read Operation Rescue’s Letter of Complaint (includes links to exhibits)
In depth background report