Absent Abortus
Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 in Case Reports
Case Synopsis
An Unwanted Pregnancy
Zoey was just 18 years old when she suffered one of the most traumatic experiences of her life. Pregnant and not knowing the date of her last menstrual period, Zoey visited a Women’s Center for an elective termination of pregnancy. 
On that date, July 17, 2006, Zoey paid $800 as down payment for the abortion procedure. Two ultrasounds were performed which showed her as 23 weeks pregnant. She was asked to visit another clinic in North Miami where she would be further evaluated for the procedure.
The Doctor Visit
Two days later, Zoey went to see Dr. Churchill at the North Miami Clinic. During that visit, Dr. Churchill examined Zoey and placed a medication called Laminaria into the cervical canal. He also prescribed her Motrin, Cytotec, and an antibiotic, and told her to go to the “Hialeah Clinic” the next day at 9 am. He would be performing her procedure at 2 pm. It is interesting to note that Dr. Churchill was not board certified in any specialty.
Now interestingly, Cytotec and Laminaria are not to be taken together since both do similar things in preparing the cervix for the abortion procedure. Nonetheless, this was done.
The Unforgettable Day
Here is the sequence of events for that dreadful day: July 20, 2006.
| 9:30 am | Zoey arrives at the clinic. Only one staff member was present so she goes back to wait in her car. |
| 10:30 am | Zoey goes back into the clinic and is given two white pills. She goes back to wait in her car. |
| 11:45 am | Zoey was beginning to feel sick. She is brought into a patient room, undresses, and lays down. |
| 1:30 pm | Still waiting. Zoey is told the doctor should be in around 2 pm. The office staff contacts Dr. Churchill repeatedly. |
| 2:00 pm | Zoey feels a large pain in her vaginal area and sees a “live baby” on the floor. She sees the baby moving about and the chest moving slightly. One of the owners of the clinic who does not hold any healthcare license of any kind cuts the umbilical cord with scissors. She puts the baby and all of its remains in a plastic bag and places it into a trash can. |
| 3:00 pm | Dr. Churchill arrives. He had to stop at another clinic to see another patient who was bleeding. Dr. Churchill tells an unlicensed staff member to start an IV on Zoey, but was unsuccessful. |
A Different Story
According to Dr. Churchill, he arrived at the office at 2:20 pm. He claimed that he initiated the abortion process at that time and that Zoey was stable. Dr. Churchhill reported that the fetal sack, placenta, large clots, and umbilical cord were removed together. Upon further examination, Dr. Churchill stated that he could not find the fetus and an ultrasound was performed. He claimed that it was at that time when a staff member tells him that the fetus had already been delivered.
Dr. Churchill claimed that he asked the staff members why he wasn’t told that the fetus was already delivered and claimed he was told that the staff members had “panicked.”
Altered Medical Records
Review of Zoey’s medical record showed a one-page document called “Termination of Pregnancy.” The document listed that an abortion procedure was performed and included that Dr. Churchill examined “fetal parts” and the “placenta.” This was signed, presumably by Dr. Churchill.
Zoey’s records also showed that she left the clinic at 12:05 pm, although there were blood pressure and temperature recordings at 12:20 and 12:40.
High Stakes Development
The next day, July 21, 2006, an anonymous tipster called 911 and reported that a baby was born at the abortion clinic and killed on site. A search warrant was executed and on July 22, the clinic was searched. No fetal remains were found.
A week later on July 28, another anonymous source notified police that the fetal parts were on the clinic’s roof. Police searched the roof but could not find any fetal remains. The anonymous source called the police again that same day to report that the fetal remains had been returned to the clinic. Another search warrant was obtained and the partially decomposed fetal remains were found in a cardboard box.
Case Outcome
Dr. Churchill had his license revoked.
An autopsy of Zoey’s fetus showed that the lungs floated in water. This meant that the fetus had filled its lungs with air prior to its death.
Analysis by Marc
Unbelievable! I think the blatant ethical breaches on Dr. Churchill’s part are incredibly clear.
First off, Dr. Churchill did not even seem to remotely care about Zoey. Does he think he’s working for my telephone service company? Last week when I needed my telephone line serviced, I was told, “We’ll be out there between 9am and 5pm.” And when I begged for a more precise time so that I don’t have to take the entire day off work, I was told it could not be done. (I ended up waiting all day and no one showed up.) That type of service is unacceptable.
Dr. Churchill should have known better. You just do not schedule your patient to arrive at 9am when you have no intention of being there until 2pm. And to make matters worse, he arrived an hour late, at 3pm. (Yes, I know people who’ve waited much longer in urgent care or in the emergency room, but this was a 6-hour wait for a scheduled procedure.)
Now if the only trespass was that Dr. Churchill arrived extraordinarily late (which sometimes may happen due to unforeseeable events), that would have been the end of it. Even perhaps administering two different medications that was used for the same thing can be forgiven or overlooked. What turned this case upside down was the cover-up that ensued.
Altering medical records, not being forthright and honest with the patient, and lying to investigators showed Dr. Churchill’s true colors. Given that light, I could only imagine why he arrived late, why he was not board certified, and, if you read the actual case files (it’s included on this page), you’ll see that he was also not covered by any malpractice insurance.
Dr. Churchill was bad news. While this was by no means at all Zoey’s fault, if she had just spent some time researching the doctor, she would have easily uncovered some of these details. In fact, she signed a note indicating she was told about his lack of a malpractice carrier. It’s such a shame that we have to go at great lengths to protect ourselves, but we do.
As for Dr. Churchill, I think he should go to jail.
| Score |
|---|
| 8.8 |
| Damage | Anger | Ineptitude | Shock | Ethics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Response by Lyssa
I agree, this type of behavior is definitely unacceptable. There isn’t very much I can add to this analysis, but here are a few words of advice on how to protect yourself as a patient.
Firstly, do a simple web search on your doctor. It’s amazing sometimes what you can find.
Secondly, always seek a doctor that is board-certified in the specialty you’re looking for. Any licensed physician can perform medical procedures, but it doesn’t mean they are trained in them. Board certification shows that they have gone through the proper education and training. You can check up on your doctor’s board status at the American Board of Medical Specialties website, http://www.abms.org.
Thirdly, it’s a good idea to check your state’s medical board to see if your doctor has had any prior records of discipline and malpractice.
Perhaps for Zoey, the procedure she desired was not offered elsewhere, nor am I attempting to shift blame upon her. However, in general, we all have options to protect ourselves when seeing doctors and should seek caution.
| Score |
|---|
| 7.6 |
| Damage | Anger | Ineptitude | Shock | Ethics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 9 |
Response by Florence
Marc, I couldn’t agree more. For a young woman to have to go through such an ordeal (for an already harrowing procedure) is just unbelievable. I am just happy that she survived the ordeal with no permanent physical damage, but I am sure it left her a large psychological scar.
Zoey was opting for a procedure that are considered as taboo by many, and she just wanted a cheap and easy way out. That is how doctors like Dr. Churchill get away with shoddy medical practices. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was not the first time he’s done something questionable. Fortunately, this time, he was caught.
ps. Marc, hope you got your phone situation fixed so that we can get ahold of you again? 
| Score |
|---|
| 6.8 |
| Damage | Anger | Ineptitude | Shock | Ethics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
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Cat
Aug 27th, 2009
Ugh. So many things wrong with this scenario.
OK, I can see him being late if he was dealing with another patient. The staff at the clinic should’ve been trained and prepared to handle any type of situation. Who the hell has untrained/certified staff go into a patients room to do any thing medical? I’d be interested in knowing if any actions were taken against the clinic. There’s no way another doctor wasn’t on call or available, especially at a clinic that deals with abortions.
I feel for the young woman. Again, we are trained that if a sign on the door says MD they should know better. Even if they don’t have malpractice insurance. Most of the general population isn’t aware of the different certifications that a doctor needs to go through or what each one means. So her researching all that probably didn’t even cross her mind. She may not have had the support of family or friends for this procedure so may not have went to anyone and gotten their opinions on the information he presented her. She was probably scared and wanted the situation taken care of as quickly as possible. Besides the fact that when dealing with abortions you have a very limited time frame to make a decision so who would really be thinking about researching the doctor performing it?
My morbid side wants to know who had the cardboard box the whole time…
What_the_heck
Dec 10th, 2009
Seems I’m a little late to this party but hey what-the-heck
I’ll comment anyway. Cat I am in full agreement with you! It is just mind boggling to me that a fully staffed clinic could let this happen. In the old days I can understand how as doctors back then were not required to have aids or nurses in the room with them during such procedures. Today though its a completely different story. Just goes to show you how scared nurses and other staff members are of the doctors and what reprisals may fall upon them.
As to your morbidity, I don’t even want to ponder about the cardboard box…creepy….
wha
Jan 21st, 2010
I don’t care how young you are. How can you see your baby on the floor and not want to pick it up and hold it. She murdered her baby. the child was alive. How twisted are we that it is ok for someone to pick up an infant and place it in a trash bag knowing it is alive. This world is going to hell, no respect for life or God.
cheecochihuahua
Jan 21st, 2010
Horrible. All 3 parties are murders. Someday God will dish out punishment. Didn’t the young girl have any warning signs something was not legitimate? Didn’t the girl fear for her own life too after the staff thrown away a living infant. Or thought she was too big to be placed in a dumpster. If the baby wasn’t wanted or the girl wasn’t ready to be a Mother, please give someone else a chance to be proper parent. Maybe a case of stupid is, stupid does.
A Nurse
Feb 25th, 2010
How have we come to this? It is as easy as carrying out the trash. Take God out of the equation. Forget about not being ready to have a baby. You still have a human life thrown away in the trash. Our humanity went out in the trash as well.
Roxy
Mar 1st, 2010
I am a nurse myself in L&D. I have seen many things happen that I don’t like. I have to say that this is a terrible story and I would have preferred it not even have gotten the attention it has on this page. That being said, this whole scenario was wrong from the very beginning. She was 23 weeks pregnant! Babies can survive at that gestation, I have seen it personally! Where was the counseling that this young woman should have received? There are many wonderful agencies out there to help girls in just this situation. As for the doctor and all the staff for that matter, I feel they should all have been charged with murder! We do NOT throw babies away, we can’t. I’m very saddened by this story and will certainly pray for the soul of the young woman who destroyed her baby and just let it die! May God forgive her.
mjfan
Mar 1st, 2010
Um, I’m agree with most of it but I don’t blame the young girl. She doesn’t know better. I’m much older than her and I don’t even know how many weeks can survive.