1981: Anesthesia screw-up kills mother of 3

Twenty-seven-year-old Robin Wells, mother of three children ages 6, 4, and 2, lost her battle for her life in an Akron hospital on August 2, 1981. She had been in a coma since July 15. On that day, she'd submitted to a safe and legal abortion, under general anesthesia, by Max Gaujean at Akron Center for Reproductive Health. Robin went into cardiac arrest in the recovery room, and was transferred by ambulance to the hospital where she remained in a coma until her death.

Both Gaujean and the anesthesiologist were independent contractors and did not maintain private practices. The suit filed by Robin's survivors alleged that she was overdosed on anesthesia and not properly monitored. It also alleged that staff at Akron Center for Reproductive Health failed "to resuscitate her after her condition had been discovered." The case was settled out of court.

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