Doctor Guilty in Abortion Patient’s Death
A doctor was convicted of manslaughter Tuesday in the death of a patient following a botched abortion, and a former clinic administrator was found guilty of negligent homicide.
Dr. John Biskind, 75, and Carol Stuart-Schadoff, 63, were both charged with manslaughter in the death of LouAnne Herron, who died three hours after an abortion at the now-closed A-Z Women’s Center in Phoenix in 1998. An autopsy found Herron’s uterus had been ruptured by a medical instrument.
“We don’t usually prosecute doctors for bad medicine, but this case was so bad we had to make a stand,” prosecutor Paul Ahler said.
Prosecutors said Biskind and Stuart-Schadoff provided little care for Herron as the 33-year-old woman bled heavily. Prosecutors accused them of ignoring sonograms showing Herron’s pregnancy was too advanced to be terminated.
Jurors disapproved of Biskind’s decision to leave the clinic as his patient lay dying.
“We all agreed from the start of deliberations that he was guilty,” said jury foreman Russell Craig, 56, a retired government worker.
Jurors also were struck by Stuart-Schadoff’s disregard for a sonogram showing the fetus was more than 24 weeks old and her failure to schedule a nurse for the abortion.
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