Saturday, November 22, 2008

November 22 malpractice anniversaries

"Jean" and her husband visited Hallmark Clinic when they suspected that she was pregnant. A clinic pamphlet indicated that Hallmark used "the most modern, and by far the safest" abortion technique, and that abortions past 12 weeks gestation would be performed by Hallmark's Board Certified or Board Eligible doctors at a local hospital, as required by law, rather than in the clinic. Reassured by the pamphlet, Jean returned for an abortion on November 20, 1973. Because the abortion was being done in the clinic rather than the hospital, Jean believed that her pregnancy was in the first trimester. Harold Hoke performed a suction abortion, then discharged Jean without a post-abortion examination. Jean suffered "excruciating pain and bleeding" at home. At 5 a.m. on November 22, Jean fell into semi-consciousness. Jean's mother-in-law rushed her to the emergency room, where she expelled a severely mutilated 19-week female fetus. The fetus was missing both arms and one leg. The rib cage was exposed and lung tissue was sticking out the left side of the chest. The skin was damaged at the neck and right side of the face, "and there was distortion of the facial features". Jean suffered a severe depressive reaction at the sight of her mangled, dead baby. Jean was hospitalized, and treated for depression and severe infection. She returned home on bed rest, and was unable to work. (Lincoln County Superior Court Case No. 74CVS247)

"Brandy" was 18 years old when she went to Andre Nehorayoff's office on November 22, 1989, for a second trimester abortion. Nehorayoff "failed to perform and/or record the findings of an adequate medical history and physical examination." All he recorded were pulse, blood pressure, and weight. He didn't use laminaria and inadequately dilated her cervix. During the abortion, Nehorayoff pulled a loop of Brandy's bowel through her cervix through a 2.5 cm tear he'd made in the back of her uterus. Instead of stopping the procedure and transferring Brandy to a hospital, Nehorayoff just pushed the loop of bowel back through the hole and continued with the abortion. Only after the abortion did he hospitalize Brandy. Surgeons there found "a 6.5 segment of devascularized bowel" which they had to remove. They also had to remove fetal parts Nehorayoff had left in Brandy's abdominal cavity. (Medical board disciplinary document) Nehorayoff also performed the fatal abortions on "Ellen" and "Faye".

A suit by Suzanne W. alleged that she underwent an abortion November 22, 1989 by Dr. Michael Gold at Southern Vermont Women's Health Center in Rutland, Vermont. Gold perforated her uterus and bladder. Suzanne required surgical repair, performed at Rutland Regional Medical Center. She sued for permanent injuries, continuing health problems and difficulty controlling bladder functions. Suzanne indicated that she would not have consented to an abortion had the risks been adequately explained. In his deposition 73-year-old Gold stated "the placenta and a hand of the fetus had been removed, and an omentum came into the canula;" "Omentum is the apron of fat that hangs in front of the viscera in the abdominal cavity.... And when you see omentum in the canula, you realize that you're in the abdominal cavity or the abdominal cavity has come into the instrument." (Rutland Superior Court Docket No. S0806-91RcC; Rutland Herald 8-2-94, 9-24-94, 9-26-94, 9-27-94, 10-14-94)

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