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| Lisa Bardsley |
Lisa Kristine Bardsley was a vibrant and active young woman, 26 years old and 20.6 weeks pregnant on February 16, 1995. She had been an honor roll student and was a 1986 graduate of Flagstaff High in Flagstaff, Arizona.
She traveled from her home in Flagstaff to A to Z Women's Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. There she was to undergo an abortion at the hands of Dr. John Biskind.
Biskind and his Clinic
Lisa might have thought twice about entrusting herself to Biskind's care if she had known more about his history.
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| Dr. John Biskind |
Biskind had very nearly killed an abortion patient in 1991. He put a 2-inch hole in the woman's uterus. An hour later a clinic nurse was unable to measure a blood pressure. Biskind wasn't there to deal with the woman. He had left the clinic before his patient had been medically cleared, and didn't react to his pager or cell phone. Fortunately for the patient, the nurse called 911 instead of continuing to try to reach her boss. Medics arrived and transported the 41-year-old woman across the street to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, where an emergency hysterectomy was performed to save her life.
The medical board found out about the woman's nearly-fatal experience when the hospital filed a complaint about the clinic's owner, Dr. Moshe Hachamovitch, who was implicated in the abortion deaths of Christina Goesswein, Tanya Williamson, and Luz Rodriguez, and owned the clinic where Jammie Garcia underwent her fatal abortion.
In a six-month period, the ER had treated four of the Biskind's patients, leading hospital staff to be concerned about the care women were receiving.
The medical board, on the other hand, didn't seem particularly concerned and took no action.
Lisa's Experience at the Clinic
Dr. John Biskind documented that he inserted 5 laminaria to dilate Lisa's cervix. The preprinted consent form that Lisa signed stated that she would stay within 5 miles/15 minutes from the facility, and a handwritten note on the page added, "Patient stated during counseling that she will stay overnight in Phoenix - within 15 minutes of the clinic. Joy K. Noll."
You read that right. Biskind, like others who do abortions late in the pregnancy, endangered his patients by just sending them out the door under their own fragile care, or the care of a loved one, when it's not safe for them to be more than 15 minutes away.
The undated preprinted surgical procedure report did not note how much cervical dilation Biskind had achieved for his patient. It does note that she entered the OR at 10:33 am, was administered a selection of drugs at 10:26 and more drugs at 10:47, and taken to the recovery room at 11:00, still unconscious.
It's interesting that the pre-printed operative report is not specific to this patient but merely says "Uterine contents consisted of placental tissue and products of conception. .... The patient tolerated the procedure well and left the operating room for recovery in good condition."
Just half an hour later, at 11:00, Lisa was discharged from the facility even though her blood pressure and pulse had fallen since she'd entered the recovery room. Biskind felt no need to medically clear his patient before sending her home even though a woman had very nearly died just a few years earlier. "My experience has given me the ability to feel secure. I used to see all second tri patients, but it just wasn't necessary," he later told the medical board.
There are no indications of whether Lisa was told to stay near the facility after the abortion procedure itself. The instructions just noted that she was to stay near the facility for the dilation prior to the procedure.
She Never Made it Home
Lisa and her boyfriend didn't feel they could afford a hotel in Phoenix, so they decided to go home to Flagstaff. On the way, she took ill, so the couple stopped at a motel at Camp Verde. Lisa hoped that if she rested a while she'd feel better. However, her pain worsened and she began suffering shortness of breath. Her boyfriend called 911.
Lisa was taken to a hospital in Cottonwood, where she was pronounced dead at 4:55 pm on February 17. An autopsy found an 8 cm (over 3 inch) laceration of her uterus and about 2000 cc (over half a gallon) of blood in her abdomen. Her cause of death was listed as intra-abdominal hemorrhage secondary to perforation of the uterus secondary to pregnancy termination.
A Grieving Father
Lisa's father, Curtis "Skip" Bardsley, told the Arizona Daily Sun, "I can't tell you how many times I thought about going to Phoenix and just doing this guy." But he would think of his other children and pursue justice through the medical board and the courts. He even moved from his home in California to Flagstaff. He settled his lawsuit against Biskind for an undisclosed amount and tried to get the medical board to take action.
"I couldn't take it. I had to be here for this thing. It took three years to get anything done at all to this guy." Skip sat in on the medical board proceedings as an observer. All that happened, however, was that Biskind was censured. No steps were taken to protect women. Biskind told the medical board that he'd told Lisa not to leave the area for 48 hours so it was her own fault she'd bled to death from the 3-inch hole he'd torn in her uterus.
Another Woman Dies Needlessly
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| Lou Ann Herron |
Three years later, 33-year-old Lou Ann Herron made the mistake of trusting Biskind with her life. Like Lisa, Lou Ann suffered a tear in her uterus. As with Lisa, Biskind paid no attention to signs that his patient was hemorrhaging. In fact, he left the clinic and entrusted Lou Ann to the supervision of some medical assistants. The staff mopped her blood off the floor as her life drained away. By the time anybody called medics to take her across the street to the hospital, it was too late to save her.
Skip followed Biskind's prosecution for Lou Ann's death as well and asked the judge to sentence the abortionist to the maximum sentence.
Lou Ann's father also sued the medical board for letting Biskind get away with what he'd done to Lisa. The suit alleged that the board had prepared its "finding of facts and law" before even holding a hearing.
Final Words from Lisa's Father
Lisa had worked as a canyoneer and rancher at Phantom Ranch, where she did cooking, cleaning, greeting guests, and performing odd jobs.
Skip Bardsley told the Arizona Daily Sun that he had Lisa's remains cremated. "I took her down to the Grand Canyon and spread her because that's where she worked, and she loved that place. I'm going down to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I hike down every year at her birthday and celebrate it with her."
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Sources:
- Arizona State Board of Medical Examiners, #11941 and #12077 (see relevant excerpt here)
- Arizona State Board of Medical Examiners Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Order of Censure (Start on page 19 of PDF)
- "Abortionist's patient in '91 rushed to ER," Arizona Daily Star, July 19, 1998
- "BOMEX faces suit," Arizona Republic, March 12, 1999
- "A grieving father sees justice reached," Arizona Daily Sun, March 3, 2001
- "Biskind sentencing not political or revenge, judge says," Arizona Republic, May 5, 2001
