If you do not know the name Steve Brigham, be thankful: it means that chances are he and his teams of rogue medical “professionals” have not harmed anyone you know. Thanks to the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, his chances of hurting anyone else ever again are slim to none, as the Board revoked his medical license this week.

Brigham operated abortion clinics in multiple states including Maryland – where he was not licensed to practice – but as his privileges were revoked he was relegated to eight clinics in New Jersey. Then a 2010 case made headlines when an 18 year old woman was rushed to a Baltimore hospital because the clinic botched the procedure; she suffered severe internal injuries, and authorities found fetal remains in freezers.

This is a case about medical negligence, not abortion

Brigham lost his license because he “committed several counts of gross negligence, deception, and official misconduct.” What makes this case so important is that it took almost 20 years for the Board to revoke his license. Regardless of how one feels about abortion, it is imperative that we start demanding accountability from our doctors; more often than not, healthcare professionals who commit even egregious medical malpractice errors are allowed to continue practicing.

USA Today has been reporting on this issue since 2013. In one of their reports, they note:

Nearly 250 of the doctors [as listed in the National Practitioner Data Bank] sanctioned by health care institutions were cited as an “immediate threat to health and safety,” yet their licenses still were not restricted or taken away. About 900 were cited for substandard care, negligence, incompetence or malpractice — and kept practicing with no licensure action.

This is why Brigham’s loss of license is so significant: his habitual gross negligence and lack of care for his patients went on for two decades, and the Board finally did something about it. How many women were injured under his “care”? How many women almost died because of his practices?

Together, we need to demand better from our doctors. We need to advocate on behalf of patients who were subjected to injury and harm by healthcare professionals whose Boards allow them to keep practicing dangerous medicine. Delayed justice is better than no justice, but twenty years is too long to wait.

For more information about dangerous doctors and medical malpractice, we invite you to visit Plaxen & Adler, P.A.