Is something up with Knarr?

Is something up with William Malcolm Knarr? 'Cause somebody was searching for "malcolm knarr investigation channel 5 news".

I have old stuff on him. For example, the 1991 National Abortion Federation annual report listed him as a member.



According to several newspapers, a patient identified as K.P. filed suit regarding an October 29, 1992 abortion performed by Knarr at his Aid for Women. The abortion was incomplete, and K experienced pain and bleeding. Knarr performed a second abortion on November 5. K continued to experience pain and bleeding. When she contacted Knarr 12 days later, he advised her to seek care elsewhere, which she did. This physician noted discharge and multiple bacterial infections, and admitted K to the hospital. There an ultrasound revealed a foreign object left in her uterus. This doctor removed the object. Reportedly Knarr was unable to treat K for this himself because he'd lost his hospital privileges over his treatment of patient T.C.

Which leads us to T.C. Joseph Walter Manley had performed an abortion on her in 1991 at Knarr's Aid for Women, and Knarr had provided follow-up at a hospital. T ended up needing a hysterectomy.

A former employee filed an affidavit stating that a 16-year-old girl's mother called "in tears" after her daughter's abortion, stating that Knarr had "torn up" the girl's uterus and that as a result she suffered fever, hospitalization, and sterility.

A petition to revoke Knarr's license, filed in 1993, alleged: performing unnecessary tests and services, lack of malpractice coverage, writing prescriptions in violation of federal regulations, prescribing or administering drugs without federal registration, improperly monitoring drugs, failure to adhere to standards of care regarding patients S.E., A.S., T.R., and T.C., "Licensee has the inability to practice the branch of the Healing Arts for which he is licensed with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of illness, alcoholism, excessive use of drugs, controlled substances, chemical or any other type of material or as a result of any mental or physical condition." Knarr was ordered to undergo 5 days evaluation at a treatment center; he refused to release the evaluation to the medical board.

Knarr had been convicted in Oklahoma for sale of marijuana and LSD and possession of hashish September 2, 1970. He then failed to disclose these convictions on a federal application, an application for hospital privileges, and when applying for his Kansas license. For this false filing of documents he was given a 4 years prison sentence, suspended, $5000 fine, in 1984.

An affidavit by a former employee states that:

No staff at his clinic were RNs or LPNs

All staff, including a receptionist with no medical training, did medical work, such as starting IVs to produce anesthesia and restore consciousness, assisting in abortion procedures, taking medical history and blood pressure, performing ultrasounds, and doing Rh factor testing

Patients were required to pay for abortion prior to any other activity. Patients who changed their minds about abortion were charged for office visit and sonogram, such charge usually being $90, even if she had not seen the doctor

After payment, the patient would be given materials to read describing the abortion procedure as safe, and differing from the information "which is supposed to be given to the women eight hours before her abortion"

Adoption was not offered

Patients were told verbally and in clinic materials to disbelieve information given by protesters

Cash patients were aborted same day, regardless of informed consent requirements or intake of food prior to arrival at facility

Patient age was not verified with I.D.

In order to disguise presence in procedure room of staff member who had done pre-procedure counseling, staff would sign records for each other's counseled patients

Counselor training consisted of reading materials provided by the facility

Staff who scheduled abortion appointments received a percentage of the abortion fee

RhoGam was given in doses not in accordance with Physicians Desk Reference

Knarr was notified by telephone when all patients were present, and at least four women were expected to be prepped, with feet in stirrups, for abortion prior to his arrival. Upon arrival, Knarr would sometimes meet with staff for as long as two hours before proceeding with abortions

Women were sent out of facility rather than given somewhere to lie down after insertion of laminaria

Due to error in sonogram reading, one patient was discovered to have an advanced pregnancy beyond 16 weeks, resulting in lodging of the fetal head, which Knarr crushed with clamps

Anesthesia used caused transient amnesia, and women resisting the procedure were given more Versed, "If a woman asked Knarr to stop the procedure, he ignored her because he felt she was drugged up and wouldn't remember it."

No check was made to determine if all fetal tissues had been removed. Fetal tissues were stored in an unrefrigerated barrel inside the back door. In cases where less than 10 cc of material was removed, tissues were sent to pathologist, sometimes were determined to contain no product of conception; but the women were not notified of pathology report results and no efforts were made to determine reason for lack of fetal tissue in specimen

Torn cervix was common complication

Knarr once left a tenaculum and speculum in a patient

Knarr often arrived appearing disheveled, on occasion he appeared to be high on drugs; he once performed an abortion after stating that he was not alert due to ingestion of drugs.

Pelvic inflammatory disease was common; neither post-abortion counseling nor referrals for such were provided

Women counseled personally by Knarr always followed through with abortion

A police officer regularly responding to calls about protesters was dating a clinic staff member

12 vials of Versed became unaccounted for; Versed was administered in manner inconsistent with advice of PDR, which recommended its use only in settings "that provide constant monitoring of respiratory and cardiac function"

Blood was drawn in exam room or kitchen, and was stored with food in the refrigerator

An employee found a four-inch fetus in the garbage disposal

After OSHA inspectors found non-compliance, Knarr still did not conform

Cash paid for abortions often was unaccounted for

Knarr ingested Talwin from sample packages

An employee heard Knarr phoning prescriptions for Xanax for himself and another employee; a Wal-Mart pharmacist told an employee that Wal-Mart would not accept prescriptions from Knarr due to investigation for over-prescribing drugs

Employees smoked marijuana at a picnic at Knarr's house; an employee used Methamphetamine during work hours.

A Wichita Eagle article states that the owner of the building filed suit against Knarr because he "represented to the plaintiff that he would be operating a family practice when in fact it was his intention to operate an abortion clinic," and that operating the clinic instead of a family practice office would require changes in plumbing to meet building codes, resulting in a threat by the city to cut off water to all tenants in the building.

The clincher: a report in the Topeka Capital-Journal said that an obstetric patient complained that Knarr had left her in stirrups for over three hours, "inappropriately manipulated the perineum," "displayed a lack of knowledge in the use of forceps to deliver the baby," and "displayed a lack of knowledge regarding episiotomies and their repair."

The last I knew, Knarr had turned over his facility to none other than Kristin Neuhaus. Who got shut down by the state for being a danger to her patients, so she decided to make a living rubber-stamping George Tiler's third trimester abortion patients.

So! I have to leave for work, kids. See what you can find out about this guy and what he's been up to lately, and we'll compare notes later.