Gag Order Denied in Childbirth Anesthesia Case

Attorneys for a hospital and doctor accused of refusing anesthesia during childbirth to poor mothers who could not pay cash in advance failed Friday in an attempt to prevent lawyers for one of the mothers from speaking to the press.

Northridge Hospital Medical Center and anesthesiologist Lori Berke argued that leaks to the Los Angeles Times and other news-gathering organizations would taint the jury pool for a lawsuit that Ozzie Chavez, who the hospital admits was denied an epidural block because she could not pay cash, has filed against them.

Superior Court Judge Richard Wolfe denied the motion for a gag order, saying it would be unconstitutional. Wolfe did, however, make attorneys for both sides promise not to release certain documents obtained during the discovery process.

The case, first highlighted in a June 14 Times report about the denial of epidural blocks to women on Medi-Cal, has received so much press coverage that a gag order would “be akin to closing the barn door after the horse escapes,” Wolfe said.