RealChoice: May 8, 2009: A Paper Bag Is Not Medical Care

Monday, May 08, 2023

May 8, 2009: A Paper Bag Is Not Medical Care

Antonesha Ross's family described her as a young woman who loved singer Keyshia Cole, wrote poetry, and had a laugh that lifted spirits. She had gone to Evanston Township High School and was pursuing a GED. She wanted to go to college. She had a new job lined up that she was to start in two days. She was working on building a better life for herself and her children, 1 1/2-year-old Antonio and 6-month-old Antwane.

The First Visit

On May 2, 2009, the 18-year-old woman went to Women's Aid Clinic of Lincolnwood, Illinois. She had an ultrasound performed that showed that she was13 weeks pregnant. However, she also had an upper respiratory infection, swelling in her throat, and tonsils described as "beefy red."

To their credit, the staff at the clinic decided not to go ahead that day with an abortion on an obviously ailing woman -- making them far more responsible than the Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner who had inserted laminaria into the cervix of Edrica Goode in spite of obvious infection, ultimately leading to her sepsis death. Instead, she was instructed to get her throat infection treated by her family doctor.

Antonesha made a down payment for an abortion to be performed on May 8, at which time she would pay the additional $390 that was due.

The Fatal Day

Antonesha returned as scheduled. But the meticulous care from the first visit seemed lacking. Nobody documented checking to verify that the infection had been treated or cleared up.

Dr. Josephine Kamper initiated the abortion at 12:55 pm and finished at 1:00 -- a five-minute abortion performed in the second trimester. CRNA Lawrence Hill administered anesthesia. During the abortion, Antonesha's blood oxygen saturation fell to between 80% and 90%, and she began to cough up blood through her mouth and nose. Kamper or another clinic employee, rather than perform medical care, gave her a bag to breathe into.

Needless to say, this wasn't any help, and Antonesha went into cardio-respiratory arrest. It wasn't until 40 minutes after the abortion was completed that anybody called the ambulance. Medics transported her to Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 3:05 pm.

A Devastated Family

Antonesha's aunt, Michelle Nicks, told the Chicago Tribune, "It was devastating. The family all met at the hospital where they had taken her body and it was just so bizarre, just to see her there. Still to this day, it doesn't seem real. I just can't believe it."

Antonesha's cousin, Janell Austin Tuft, had been with the family at the hospital. She told the Chicago Tribune that she had trouble leaving Antonesha's side even after her death. "I literally held her hand until her hand turned blue. They had to have security remove me."

The Ugly Truth

It turns out that not only was Antonesha still suffering a respiratory infection. She had full-blown bronchopneumonia. By the end of the abortion her lungs were filled with fluid. This was something a paper bag couldn't fix.

CRNA Lawrence Hill, the nurse anesthetist, was disciplined and fined $10,000 for failing to "properly assess, evaluate, and treat" a patient who -- unless there was another dead patient at the clinic in 2009 -- was clearly Antonesha. Shockingly, Antonesha was the third abortion death Hill had been involved with. The two previous cases were settled out of court between 2004 and 2006. Another abortion patient under Hill's care had been left in an irreversible coma. It's likely that one of those deaths was Nakia "Kia" Jorden, was, like Antonesha, was not properly monitored nor resuscitated in 1998. The other was probably Maria Leho, who died of anesthesia complications in 1999.

Dr. Kamper negotiated with the medical board for her failure to properly evaluate an abortion patient -- most likely Antonesha -- and to assess and agree to Hill's anesthesia plan. She agreed to two years of probation on her license including requirements for monitoring and education.

State officials cited the clinic for their treatment of Antonesha as well as for 15 health and safety violations. Those included not having a registered nurse to oversee patient care, failing to properly track narcotics and sedatives, and failure to ensure "a sanitary facility with all equipment in good working order." Even though the procedure room hadn't been used for two days at the time of the inspection, inspectors found insulin syringes outside of their protective packaging. There were 28 vials of expired medication on the anesthesia cart. Medications and frozen dinners were stored in a biohazard refrigerator used to store fetal and placental tissue. Inspectors saw a recovery room technician take a paper towel out of the trash and use it to cover a tray used to serve food to patients.

Reaching for Justice

The facility was fined $36,000. However, the corporation's owners managed to avoid the fine by closing "Women's Aid Clinic" and reopening as "Women's Aid Center" with the same website, location, and phone number.

Janelle Tuft commented to the Chicago Tribune about this evasion. "At the end of the day, there is a young lady that is gone, and she cannot see her children grow up, and her family misses her. And for us to not get justice -- for them not to pay the fine -- it's not right. It's just not right."

Her parents, Maria and Anthony Ross, sued on behalf of the children, and accepted the settlement of annuities offered by the defendants, with $475,000 to come from the clinic and $80,500 from Hill.

Antonesha was the third patient I know of to have died after abortions at Women's Aid Clinic. Kathleen Gilbert and Dorothy Muzorewa had both been sent home to bleed to death.

Watch A Paper Bag is Not Medical Equipment on YouTube.

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