Twenty-four-year-old Synthia went to Biogenetics in Chicago for a safe, legal abortion and tubal ligation on September 7, 1989. The surgery was performed by Inno Obasi.
Synthia began to hemorrhage during the surgery. A medical investigation later found that Obasi had “failed to summon help in a timely manner; refused to allow trained and skilled paramedics to attend to Synthia; refused to allow paramedics to transport Synthia to a hospital in a timely manner” and otherwise “allowed Synthia to bleed to death.”
Synthia’s survivors had to file a court order to keep the facility from destroying her records. An autopsy revealed that instead of removing a section of Synthia’s fallopian tube, Obasi had removed a portion of an artery. The autopsy also revealed that Synthia, mother of two, had not been pregnant at the time of her abortion.
Sources: Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 89L 13692; Illinois Department of Professional Regulation Case No. 80-2096; Cook County Autopsy Report Case No. 125 of September 1989; Illinois Death Certificate No. 617111; Associated Press 10/26/89; Chicago Tribune 10/26/89, 12/7/89, 5/3/90, 6/13/90
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