Doctor, Midwife Held in Deaths of 5 Newborns

A Valencia doctor and his midwife employee were arrested Friday on suspicion of causing the deaths of five newborn infants when they provided midwife deliveries for high-risk pregnancies requiring hospitalization, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

Dr. Milos Klvana, 46, and midwife Dolores Doyle, 32, of Pomona operated medical clinics in Valencia, San Fernando, Temple City and Montebello, said sheriff’s spokesman Chris Robbins. Their arrests climaxed a two-year investigation into five deaths “in the Valencia and San Gabriel areas,” he said.

The sheriff’s spokesman said the newborn infants died during delivery or shortly thereafter. He did not disclose who the infants’ parents were or when the deaths occurred.

“Couples with pregnant wives would request midwife-type deliveries,” said Robbins, referring to deliveries usually done in the woman’s home without a physician present. “They were all high-risk pregnancies. They were in need of hospital care and it was not provided.”

Robbins said the pair will be formally charged in the deaths on Monday. He said Klvana will be charged with five counts of murder, three of unlawful practice of medicine, three of perjury, three of involuntary manslaughter and 18 counts of insurance fraud. Doyle will be charged with two counts of murder, three of unlawful practice of medicine, three of insurance fraud, one of grand theft and two of involuntary manslaughter, he said.

The investigation involved the Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, the state attorney general’s office and the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance.

Klvana was being held at Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. Doyle was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Montclair Police Department Jail.