Lime 5: Masking of Ectopic Pregnancy

Women who seek abortion should be less likely to die of ruptured ectopic pregnancies than women who do not seek abortion. After all, the abortionist is supposed to perform an examination verifying the size of the uterus, and is supposed to visually examine the abortion tissue to be sure that the entire fetus and placenta are present. Also, a pathology examination is supposed to be done on the uterine contents to verify the presence of the entire fetal/placental unit. However, women who seek abortion are actually more likely to die of ruptured ectopic pregnancies than women who do not seek abortion. The pain and nausea associated with an ectopic pregnancy are often mistaken for ordinary post-abortion symptoms, and are ignored until the tube ruptures and the woman's life is in danger. (Induced abortion also increases the risk of ectopic pregnancy in a subsequent pregnancy.)

With that in mind, let's look at the cases in this section of Lime 5," Chapter 1.

Deaths I've already covered:

On September 13, 1975, 22-year-old Lynette Wallace underwent an abortion at Inglewood Women's Hospital in Los Angeles County. Early on the morning of September 27, Lynette went to the emergency room reporting abdominal pain. Staff reported that she became agitated and "difficult to handle." They put her in restraints, and she was pronounced dead of cardiopulmonary arrest at 10:53 AM. The autopsy revealed what the abortionist should have detected -- the pregnancy had not been in Lynette's uterus but in her fallopian tube. The tube had ruptured, spilling blood and a 10-week fetus into Lynette's abdomen. Lynette is one of many deaths currently attributed to Inglewood Women's Hospital (aka Inglewood Women's Clinic) in Los Angeles County. The others are Yvonne Tanner, Kathy Murphy, Belinda Byrd, Cora Lewis, and Elizabeth Tsuji.

Sherry Emry

On December 28, 1977, 26-year-old leather shop owner Sherry Emry went to Water Tower Reproductive Center in Chicago for an abortion. Clinic owner Arnold Bickham did not have his staff do pathology exams on abortion tissues; instead they threw them away. After her abortion, Sherry returned to her home. She was in pain on New Years Eve. She consulted with the clinic instruction sheet and concluded that her pain was normal. By January 1, Sherry was quite ill and unable to arise from her bed. Her worried friends urged her to seek medical care, but Sherry thought that she just had the flu, so she kept to her bed. She slept fitfully, with chills and sweating. When her friends came to check on her the morning of January 2, they found her dead in her bed and called the police. The autopsy found that Sherry's fetus had been implanted in her fallopian tube, which ruptured. She bled to death. Arnold Bickham is the same doctor who shoved Sylvia Moore out the door to bleed to death on New Years Eve of 1986.

Barbara Dillon, age 22, underwent a safe and legal abortion performed by Dr. Mark Silver (John Roe 559) at Long Island Gynecological Group  on April 18, 1981. The pathology report identified placental tissue, but no fetal parts. This meant that something had gone wrong, and that Barbara needed medical care, but nobody contacted her to tell her this. Barbara suffered pain and bleeding from May 5. She went to the emergency room and was treated with antibiotics and advised to see her family doctor. She was in severe pain later that day, so her roommates called the emergency room again. They were told to give the antibiotics more time. Barbara's pain did not abate. On May 10, her roommates got a neighbor to take Barbara to the university health center. Barbara was unconscious upon arrival, with no respiration, blood pressure, or pulse, and was rushed to the emergency room. There were delays finding a doctor from the clinic who would aid the emergency room physician in addressing Barbara's symptoms. She went into irreversible shock and died on May 11. It turned out that Barbara had an ectopic pregnancy which the clinic had failed to detect.

   Edward Allred   

Josefina Garcia, age 37, mother of 2, died after abortion at a Family Planning Associates Medical Group (FPA) facility (Acme Reproductive Services 19).  Josefina's survivors filed suit against FPA owner Edward Campbell Allred and 5 other doctors. The family said that staff failed to determine that Josefina had an ectopic pregnancy before proceeding with a routine abortion procedure by D&C on May 23, 1985. After her abortion, Josefina was left unattended in a recovery room, where she hemorrhaged. She died the day of her abortion. Other FPA/Allred dead patients that I know of are Mary Pena,  Josefina Garcia, "Kyla Ellis," Maria Rodriguez, Denise Holmes, Joyce Ortenzio, Tami Suematsu, Susan Levy, Deanna Bell, Christine Mora, Ta Tanisha Wesson, Maria Leho, Kimberly Neil, Nakia Jorden, Chanelle Bryant, Natalie Meyers, Patricia Chacon, and Laniece Dorsey.

Twenty-six-year-old Yvette Poteat had an abortion performed by Dr. Marion D. Dorn Jr. (John Roe 185) at The Ladies Clinic in Charleston, South Carolina on July 16, 1985. A lawsuit filed by her survivors says that Dorn did not examine the tissue he removed from Yvette's uterus, and did not notify Yvette that the lab report showed no fetal or placental tissue. On July 27, Yvette experienced "sudden, sharp, constant lower abdominal pains," and was taken to a hospital. She informed the ER doctors about the abortion. She was mistakenly diagnosed as having Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, was given medication, and was discharged after several hours with instructions to seek follow-up care in two days. Throughout July 28, Yvette experienced continued pain. She called the hospital but "was instructed not to return but to give the medication a chance to work." Early in the morning of July 29, Yvette collapsed at home. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital. She went into cardiac arrest due to a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that both Dorn and the hospital staff had failed to diagnose, and was pronounced dead 6:15 a.m.

In late July of 1988, 30-year-old Laura Sorrels underwent an abortion at a facility in Lancaster, California. Two weeks later, on August 6th, she was found dead in a motel room. Whoever had performed Laura’s abortion had failed to notice that the embryo was not in her uterus, but was in her fallopian tube. The tube ruptured, and Laura died of blood loss and shock, her 1-year-old daughter by her side.

Gladyss Estanlislao

On May 12, 1989, Gladyss Estanislao, 28-year-old mother of one, was found unresponsive on the floor of the rest room near her college classroom. A doctor who was in the vicinity performed CPR while awaiting an ambulance. Gladyss was taken to Greater Laurel Beltsville Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival from cardiac arrest due to blood loss from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. Dr. Alan J. Ross (John Roe 615) at Wisconsin Avenue Women's Health Center in Bethesda, Maryland  had performed a first-trimester abortion on April 25 for an abortion then failed to follow up when there was no fetal tissue in the specimen. 

On October 15, 1990, 23-year-old Angela Satterfield underwent a safe, legal abortion. John Roe 333 did not diagnose Angela's ectopic pregnancy. He simply performed an abortion procedure and sent her home. That evening, the undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy ruptured. Angela was found dead in her home. She had hemorrhaged. Her death certificate only mentions the ectopic pregnancy and the hemorrhage, but her autopsy notes the failure of the abortionist to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy. (Oklahoma Autopsy Report No. T-332-90, Oklahoma Death Certificate No. 23934)

A death where I need a source document:

A woman that Mark didn't give a pseudonym was 19 when she underwent a first-trimesters abortion under general anesthesia in 1977. I'll call her "Shayna." Staff charted the abortion as "uneventful" and discharged Shayna. That evening she suffered weakness, shortness of breath, nausea, and vomiting. She went to the emergency room where they examined her, gave her medication, and sent her home. Two hours later, Shayna was dead. The pathology report from the abortion had shown no pregnancy tissue, and the autopsy found 2000 cc of blood in Shayna's abdomen along with a ruptured tubal pregnancy. The March 4, 1977 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that Lime 5 cites is, alas, missing from the nearly complete library at the CDC's web site. (Other cite: Journal of the American Medical Association October 10, 1980)

Non-fatal cases where I need source documents: 

Planned Parenthood referred "Jean" to John Roe 549 in 1972. A week after the abortion she called Planned Parenthood to report that she was still in pain. They referred her to a medical facility, which set up an appointment in a week. Before the week was out Jean was hospitalized for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and ended up in intensive care. (Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. C64485)

"Ruth" went to John Roe 794 for an abortion on November 13, 1982. A week later she was found unconscious in her home and was taken to a hospital. She suffered hemorrhagic shock and underwent surgery to remove her ruptured Fallopian tube. The abortion clinic had failed to notify Ruth that her pathology report had indicated a possible ectopic pregnancy. (Illinois Appellate Court Case No. 1-91-2485, Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 84L 23584, Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts December, 1994)

Watch Lime 5: Masking of Ectopic Pregnancy on YouTube.