September 27: Cervical Dilator Left in Woman's Uterus, Resulting in Death

I don't like to dehumanize women by just using initials, so the woman identified in medical board documents as "S.H." will be called "Shirelle."

Frank Rodriguez

On September 22, 2012, 31-year-old Shirelle went to Presidential Women's Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, for an abortion. There, Dr. Frank Rodriguez pushed a cervical dilator into Shirelle's uterus and left it there. Shirelle died five days later, on September 27.

It's interesting to note that the medical board doesn't mention Shirelle's death in the disciplinary documents. Operation Rescue discovered the death on a malpractice payout reporting form.

Evidently the insurance payout was done quietly, since I have not been able to find any newspaper coverage of Shirelle's death.