An example of malpractice

Anne S., age 32, made the following allegations regarding an August 10, 1998 abortion performed at A Lady's Choice, possibly by Bruce Steir, the abortionist who performed the fatal abortion on Sharon Hamplton.

Anne had undergone previous abortions at this place in December of 1994 and August of 1996, and had three daughters. After the abortion, she had pain, and called Dr. Joseph Durante at the clinic at 4PM. He prescribed Tylenol 3 (a Tylenol with codeine). Anne called again at 11PM, still in pain, and Durante told her to take two doses of Tylenol 3.

Anne couldn't sleep, so she called the Victor Valley ER, and a nurse said to try milk and toast. Anne called Durante at 4AM, he said he'd see her in the morning.

The abortionist who'd done Anne's abortion had called Durante and told him that her abortion had taken longer than normal, that he'd had to penetrate deep into uterus, and that he might have perforated her uterus.

Late in the morning of August, Durante performed a D&C to remove possible retained tissue. Anne's pulse was 118 and her hemoglobin 17.1, which are alarming symptoms. Nevertheless, Durante sent Anne home, and told her see Dr. Albano at the hospital for further problems. Anne couldn't reach Albano, so her boyfriend called Durante on August 12 to report that she was vomiting "green stuff." Durante said to give Anne food but not to bring her to the emergency room.

Anne went to the ER on the 13th. The doctor performed an endoscopic examination and saw "fecal exudate." Anne required 4.5 hours of surgery to repair her uterus and small bowel and remove feces from her abdominal cavity. Anne spent 8 days in the ICU and ten additional days hospitalized.

Ut turned out that the abortionist had used a #12 canula, indicating that he thought Anne was 11 weeks pregnant, rather than using a smaller one appropriate for 8-9 weeks. He made no notes of abnormal symptoms on Anne's chart. Dr. Makala Reddy, who treated Anne, testified before a state judge, “I noticed the overwhelming infection inside the abdomen. I decided I wouldn't be able to take care of her problem through a scope, so I decided to do a laparotomy, which is opening up her belly from above the navel down to the pubic bone by slicing through the layers of the abdominal wall. .... When we peeled off the omentum that was adherent to the bowel lobes and the uterus abdominal wall, we discovered there was a hole in the uterus and there was a lot more fluid collection in the pelvis, which again was bowel contents mixed with pus and exudate, and then we noticed the hole in the lower part of the small intestine."