Texas' attorney general is suing a New York physician for providing a Texas woman with abortion-inducing drugs via telehealth.
Margaret Carpenter, MD, is the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. She prescribed a Texas resident with abortion-inducing drugs that terminated a pregnancy and resulted in complications that required hospital care, according to a Dec. 13 news release.
"In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient," Attorney General Ken Paxton said in the release. "In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents."
Dr. Carpenter was not a licensed Texas physician and was not authorized to practice telehealth in the state, the release said. It is illegal to treat patients or prescribe medicine through telehealth services without a valid Texas medical license. And Texas law prohibits any physicians from providing abortion-induced drugs by courier, delivery and mail service.
The lawsuit requested the courts impose civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law.
Dr. Carpenter is the fourth physician that the Texas attorney general has sued since October. The first three, all Texas physicians, were sued for allegedly providing gender-related transition care to minors. In November, Mr. Paxton sued Brett Cooper, MD, claiming the physician illegally prescribed hormone therapy drugs to 15 minors, most recently as of Sept. 25. On Oct. 17, his office filed a similar lawsuit against May Lau, MD, a Dallas-based UT Southwestern Medical Center physician; and on Oct. 31, Mr. Paxton sued Hector Granados, MD, over allegedly providing gender-affirming care to 21 patients between the ages of 12 and 17.