Medical Malpractice Suit Settled in Botched Abortion Case

A young woman who nearly died after she underwent a botched abortion at the Metropolitan Medical Associates Englewood Center for Women in New Jersey will receive a settlement of $1.9 million for her damages.

Rasheedah Dinkins went to the clinic, which is the largest in NJ, to have a second trimester abortion, during which she began to hemorrhage.  Instead of being referred to nearby Englewood Hospital to be assessed and treated for her excessive bleeding, she was sent home.

Shortly after going home, Dinkins became sluggish and began having trouble walking and talking.  After passing out, she was rushed to Beth Israel Medical center by ambulance where it was discovered that she had a ruptured uterus.  The subsequent blood loss led to a stroke, a collapsed lung, a tracheotomy and she ended up in a coma for three weeks.

Dinkins’ case caused hospital workers to be concerned and they filed a complaint with the state which led to an investigation of the abortion clinic.  Officials were shocked to find dirty and rusty instruments, and filthy conditions, including a pile of dark red “dirt and debris” beneath an examining table that was a quarter-inch thick.  The result was a mandatory shut down of the clinic for a month.

But the problems didn’t end there.  Once Dinkins’ lawsuit became public, two more women came forward with complaints of medical malpractice at the clinic.

Gloria Mozas is suing the medical center for misdiagnosing her heterotopic pregnancy in 2003.  Mozas claims she was told she wasn’t even pregnant, but needed to undergo a D&C procedure to remove dead tissue from a previous failed pregnancy.  She later found out that the procedure killed her live fetus, and she was ultimately forced to undergo emergency surgery at a different hospital to save her life after her tubal pregnancy ruptured.

Christina Ruvolo’s medical malpractice lawsuit against Englewood Center alleges that she suffered severe complications due to an incomplete abortion she received.

As for Dinkins, she is still dealing with the aftermath of the ordeal she suffered at the hands of the negligent doctors at Englewood.  She says that had she known the truth about the clinic, she would have made a different choice.

The other two lawsuits against Englewood Center are still pending.