An employee confirmed allegations that it was common for patients to be overmedicated, and staff members not to keep proper records, in Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s clinic.
Latosha Lewis worked for Gosnell for eight years and only quit when he made her the anesthesiologist during an abortion. She was only trained as a “medical assistant” and mainly worked the front desk, logged patients, performed ultrasounds, and handed out prescriptions.
She saw Karnamaya Mongar, the 41-year-old woman who died during an abortion, and told the jury there was not a weight log because the scale broke one month before the abortion. She also said she wore gloves while handling the charts because they were covered in blood and other fluids.
Cytotec is one drug that was overused. It is commonly used to prevent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug induced steroids, but can be used to induce birth. It causes contractions, but more importantly it ripens the cervix. The popular induction drug Pitocin does not work when the cervix is not ripened. It is also cheaper than other drugs and previous evidence in the grand jury report shows Gosnell was always willing to save a penny.
Unfortunately, Gosnell’s patients were given too much Cytotec and women were going into labor too soon, in too much pain, and delivery their babies on the floor or in toilets.
Gosnell is charged with seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder. He could be sentenced to death.
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