On August 29, 2009, Megan Marie Roy, 34, pleaded guilty to one felony count of the unauthorized practice of medicine in Orange County Superior Court. Ms. Roy had been charged by the Orange County District Attorney's Office with this charge based on the allegation that she had acted as a midwife without proper certification during the home delivery of a baby girl in which the baby was stillborn.
This is the type of charge that does not usually get brought to the authorities' attention unless there are some bad facts. In this case, the facts are tragic and sad for all. The fact that the case was not charged more harshly may indicate that there was no evidence that the child would have been born healthy if a licensed provider had been present at the home birth.
The facts relating to the case are as follows. Pregnant victim Jane Doe wanted to deliver her baby at her Garden Grove home and hired another midwife for the delivery. Prior to the birth of the baby, the midwife moved out of state and introduced Mr. Roy to Jane Doe as a substitute. Ms. Roy told the victim that she was not certified to be a midwife.
On March 24, 2008, Ms. Roy acted as a midwife without medical certification for Jane Doe’s delivery. Ms. Roy did not have a doctor or any other qualified medical personnel present at the victim’s home during the delivery. It was alleged that Ms. Roy acted as the primary medical care provider to Jane Doe without the necessary skills, licensing or knowledge to deliver the baby, or handle medical complications.
After several hours in labor and obvious physical signs of distress, the baby’s father called 9-1-1. Jane Doe was transported to the hospital, where her baby girl was later delivered stillborn.
Ms. Roy was sentenced to three years of formal probation, 400 hours of community service at a facility caring for sick children, donate $2,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.
Any questions or comments should be directed to: tgreen@greenassoc.com. She can also be reached at 213-233-2260.
Tracy Green is a principal at Green and Associates. They focus their practice on the representation of professionals, particularly health care professionals including individual physicians, corporate providers and group practices. They have also handled numerous unauthorized practice of medicine cases.
Their website is: http://www.greenassoc.com/
