Deaths Tell Tale of Medical Blunder, Attempts to Conceal It

The nine second-degree murder charges Valencia obstetrician Milos Klvana was convicted of Monday tell a story of a doctor who, according to prosecutors, blundered his way through high-risk deliveries and kept his patients away from hospitals--and quality care--because he didn’t want his substandard care to be discovered by medical authorities. Here are details of the nine cases, compiled from court documents, trial arguments and interviews.

Amy Johnson

Amy Johnson was born on Christmas Eve, 1982. The father, Phillip Johnson, later said that when he asked Klvana how much the baby weighed, the doctor wrapped her in a paper towel and put her on a food scale he pulled from the closet.

Johnson’s wife, Kathie, experienced prolonged labor at Klvana’s Valencia clinic, prompting him to administer the drug Pitocin, which induces labor. The clinic had no equipment for fetal monitoring or controlling the dosage of Pitocin administered. At Klvana’s trial, expert witnesses testified that the drug should never be used outside of a hospital.

The drug caused strong, steady, repeated contractions that reduced the baby’s oxygen supply. But instead of sending Amy to a hospital, Klvana handed her to the parents and said: “Here’s your baby, take her home and enjoy her,” the father testified. Informed by telephone the next day that Amy was experiencing breathing problems, Klvana told the Johnsons to give Amy sugar water. A hospital, he said, would do the same and charge money for it.

The baby died on Christmas Day.

Anthony Joseph Fava

Klvana’s misuse of Pitocin also caused Anthony Joseph Fava’s death on Aug. 25, 1983, the prosecution said.

The complication that developed during the child’s delivery was cephalopelvic disproportion, a disparity between the size of the baby’s head and the mother’s pelvic opening. In a hospital, prosecutors said, doctors could have taken such steps as rotating the baby or performing a Cesarean section on the mother, Joanne Fava. But at Klvana’s Valencia clinic, he simply resorted to Pitocin to speed the delivery. The result was tremendous pressure on Anthony’s head.

The baby died during birth.

Amanda Herrera

In a case with birth complications similar to those in the Fava death and in which Klvana administered Pitocin, Amanda Herrera died during delivery on Oct. 12, 1983, at the Valencia clinic.

According to the mother’s sworn declaration, Klvana advised the family to bury the body in their back yard and use the funeral money they would save to take a trip to Hawaii.

Fetus Ginsberg

Mira Ginsberg’s 1982 pregnancy ended in the fetus’ death from a complication in which antibodies in the mother’s blood attack the fetus. Prosecutors contended that Klvana knew about the complication but did nothing to counteract it during Ginsberg’s next pregnancy in 1983--until it was too late.

On Jan. 17, 1984, a mature fetus was stillborn at the Valencia clinic.

Aaron Diederick

Aaron Diederick moved down his mother’s birth canal Jan. 30, 1984, in an abnormal position. Prolonged labor at the family’s Garden Grove home caused the mother, Lanna Diederick, to be moved to Klvana’s Temple City clinic. Prosecutors said Klvana’s misuse of Pitocin caused Aaron to be born with an elongated head. The boy had to be resuscitated because he was not breathing, but Klvana did not recommend hospitalization.

The next day, Aaron’s parents took him to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where he was described as comatose. The baby died Feb. 7, 1984.

Tyrone Ennis

Klvana arrived at his Temple City clinic on May 19, 1984, just as Kim Ennis, of Compton, was giving birth to her son, Tyrone. The mother’s amniotic fluid had traces of a substance called meconium, or fetal excrement. An infant can suffocate from ingesting it. Tyrone was born coated with the dark, tarry material.

Klvana took the baby to the nearby office of a pediatrician, who recommended immediate hospitalization. Nearly three hours passed from the time Tyrone was born to the time he arrived at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.

The baby died there May 26.

Jason Friel

Deborah Friel’s diabetes presented one of the most basic complications that can arise during pregnancy. Children born to diabetic mothers often are premature and require close monitoring. Prosecutors charged Klvana did not prescribe drugs to control the diabetes during prenatal care and did not recommend a hospital delivery when Friel went into premature labor.

Jason was born with breathing problems, but Klvana sent him home. The baby died the next day.

Klvana visited Friel that day and, according to her sworn declaration, said: “Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”

Veronica Palacios

Klvana administered Pitocin to Arleen Palacios during her labor on March 1, 1985, at the Temple City clinic. The birth involved another case of cephalopelvic disproportion.

Palacios asked to go to the hospital. Before she left, Klvana told her not to tell doctors there that he had cared for her. He did not accompany her.

The baby, named Veronica, died during birth.

Regan LaVerne

The delivery of Regan LaVerne on Sept. 12, 1986, also involved cephalopelvic disproportion; Klvana administered Pitocin during the mother’s labor at his Valencia office. Regan was born with an elongated head. The next day, the baby would not nurse and her cry was a rasp, according to testimony.

The baby died three days later.