Accused of Murder in 4 Infant Deaths : Doctor Files False-Imprisonment Claim

A Valencia physician who is in jail awaiting trial on murder charges stemming from the deaths of four newborns and a fetus has filed a claim of false imprisonment against Los Angeles County.

The claim, a preliminary step required before a lawsuit can be brought against a public agency, was filed by Dr. Milos Klvana on Feb. 9, according to Lee Erickson, supervising investigator in the county counsel’s office. The county counsel would not release a copy of Klvana’s claim.

If, after 45 working days, the county has not come to a settlement with a claimant, the claimant is free to file a lawsuit.

The fact that Klvana plans to sue the county was disclosed Thursday at a press conference held by Friends of Milos Klvana, an organization of former patients of Klvana and advocates of out-of-hospital childbirth.

From 1982 until his arrest, Klvana oversaw the delivery of hundreds of babies for women who wanted out-of-hospital births--either at their homes or in clinics run by Klvana.

Klvana, 46, and an unlicensed midwife, Delores Doyle, 32, were arrested Oct. 31 after a two-year investigation into his obstetric practice by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office, state attorney general’s office and the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance.

Prosecutors allege that Klvana, whose trial date has not been set, was negligent in his handling of high-risk pregnancies. In several cases, according to the charges, seriously ill newborns were sent home with their parents rather than to the hospital because Klvana feared that scrutiny of his records would reveal that he had filed insurance claims for care that was never delivered.

The babies died, as did a viable fetus, which Klvana allegedly disposed of without notifying health authorities.

Klvana is in County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. Doyle, who was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and a number of other felonies, also is in County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Supporters at Hearings

Klvana’s case has become a cause celebre among advocates of alternative childbirth methods and midwifery. Supporters have appeared at every hearing--often by the dozen and often with children successfully delivered by Klvana.

More than 15 former patients of Klvana were among the two dozen supporters at the press conference, which was held at the Greater Los Angeles Press Club.

Linda Strom, with her son, David, in a backpack, arrived at the event in a Volkswagen with a bumper sticker that read “Einstein was born at home.”

David was delivered by Klvana at his Newhall clinic Oct. 11, 20 days before Klvana was arrested, she said.

Since Klvana’s arrest, his supporters have unsuccessfully lobbied the district attorney’s office to drop the charges or reduce his bail.

The district attorney, patient Rachael Flug said, “has portrayed Klvana as a monster of evil and a money grubber,” whereas most of his patients feel they could not find better care.

Refuses Solid Food

Flug said Klvana may not survive his imprisonment. The physician is now in the jail’s medical ward because he has refused solid food, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian R. Kelberg, the prosecutor in the case.

Abraham Entin, whose son Jonas was delivered by Klvana, said that, because Klvana believes that women should be able to choose where they want to have their children, he is being treated as a “medical heretic.”

But Linda Vogel, a deputy attorney general who has been investigating Klvana, said, “The home birth issue is an absolute red herring. . . . Many of the experts we’ve had look at this case do out-of-hospital births. . . . We’ve had two different certified-nurse midwives look at their records.”

All have concluded that Klvana was “grossly negligent,” she said.

The investigation is continuing into care given other mothers and infants by Klvana and his clinics, Vogel said. After the charges were filed in November, investigators received calls from other former patients who had serious complaints about Klvana, Vogel said.

A preliminary hearing is not expected to be held for several months.