Physician Faces More Charges in Newborn Deaths

Four second-degree murder charges will be added to the five already filed against a Valencia physician in the deaths of babies, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Dr. Milos Klvana, 47, is accused by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office of incompetently caring for eight babies and one full-term fetus. The babies, who were delivered at their mothers’ homes or at Klvana’s offices in Valencia and Temple City, died shortly after birth.

In all nine cases, prosecutors allege, the pregnancies were high-risk and the infants should have been transported to hospitals where emergency care was available.

The deaths occurred between December, 1982, and September, 1986, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian R. Kelberg.

The district attorney’s office said the added second-degree murder charges will be filed Wednesday, at the start of Klvana’s preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Accused with Klvana in three of the deaths is his unlicensed assistant, Delores Doyle, 35. She also faces 27 other charges.

In addition to the murder counts, Klvana will be prosecuted on 34 felony charges, including insurance fraud, conspiracy, perjury and aiding an unlicensed assistant in the practice of medicine, Kelberg said. Thirty of those charges have been filed, and the others will be submitted to the court Wednesday, Kelberg said.

Two-Year Investigation

At the end of the preliminary hearing, which is expected to take four months, Judge James F. Nelson will decide whether sufficient evidence exists to hold the two for trial in Superior Court.

Klvana and Doyle were arrested Oct. 31 after a two-year investigation by the Sheriff’s Department, district attorney, state attorney general and the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance, which licenses and monitors physicians. The investigation was launched after an informant notified authorities of an infant’s death.

Each court appearance for the pair has drawn crowds of supporters, including mothers who praise Klvana for delivering their children in the comfort of their own homes.

The two are being held in County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail each.