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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1990)
i XI .f » i'il — it «* * PAGE 2 — The Georgia Bulletin, January 11, 1990 Abortion Clinic To Pay $2 Million Settlement In Woman's Death BY RITA McINERNEY An out of court settlement which could exceed $2 million has been reached in the death Oct. 10, 1989, ot a young woman who underwent an abortion last March at Atlanta Surgi-Center, 1133 Spring St., NW, Atlanta. The patient, Catherine Pierce, 27 of Chattanooga, Tenn., was transferred to Crawford Long Hospital after the pro cedure was performed at the abortion clinic. She was in a coma, was later transferred to a nursing home and never regained consciousness. According to John McClarty, Chattanooga attorney for Ms. Pierce’s 11-year-old daughter, and for her parents, Josephine and Charlie Pierce, the settlement provides an immediate lump sum payment of $400,000 for the child and monthly payments of $2,000 for the child’s lifetime. Mrs. Pierce is guardian for her granddaughter with assistance from her husband, according to McClarty. The settlement, according to information released by the attorney, says liability was based on failure to properly monitor the patient; improper dosage of anesthesia, and lack of supervision over the nurse who administered the anesthesia. It further says that following the abortion Ms. Pierce was not properly awakened from the anesthesia. As a result she experienced unwitnessed cardiac arrest. Ms. Pierce died Oct. 10 at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, according to the attorney. Shortly before her death she had been transferred to Emory University- Hospital for extensive evaluation. This showed, McClarty said, no detectable brain activity and no possibility of recovery. Judge Howell People of the Chancery Court of Hamilton County, Tenn., approved the settlement in behalf of the minor child. He denied the appeal of lawyers for the Atlanta Surgi-Center to seal the records of the case. Ms. Pierce was 19 weeks pregnant at the time of the abor tion, McClarty’s office said. A licensed practical nurse, she was working for a temporary service at the time and was in good health, the lawyer said. McClarty said he has represented the family “over the years” and is not associated with the American Rights Coalition. This is a non-profit group working out of Chat tanooga which works with crisis pregnancy centers, doc tors and lawyers in the local areas. Charles Wysong, head of the coalition, said in an inter view last May that two pro-life sidewalk counselors witnessed an ambulance leaving the abortion clinic last March 10. Later his office received an anonymous call giv ing Ms. Pierce’s name and the hospital where she was being treated. He in turn notified the Fulton County District At torney in a letter dated April 8, 1989. Located in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish area. GRAND OPENING Oc§an Worl d SEAFOOD SUPERMARKET SEAFOOD SUPERMARKET Toco Hills Shopping Center Q 7 Days 3011 N. Druicf Hills Road AWeek 9:30 am -7 pm 982-9947 PRICE ■pnr PRICE TtTT SHRIMP SHELL-ON (All Size) 21-25 (Ex-Lg) 6 3 ' lb LOBSTER TAIL 11” Ib 26-30 (Large) 5“ lb SOFT SHELL CRAB 9” 6 pcs 31-35 (Medium) 499 ib SNOW CRAB CLUSTER 3” ID 71-90 (Small 3” !b WHOLE SQUID 3lb. Box JOB Box S. SHRIMP PEELED 1.99 Ib. SEA SCALLOP RED SNAPPER FILLET 3.99 Ib. LARGE 5” lb FLOUNDER FILLET 2” lb MEDIUM 4” lb SOLE FILLET 3.29 Ib SMALL 3” Ib SALMON STEAK 6 02. 3'“ Ib KING FISH STEAK 2<i Ib PREPARED SEAFOOD PRODUCT STUFFED FILLET BREADED FISH OF SOLE (6 Dili) V' pc CAKE OR STICK i 5> lb IMITATION CRAB 12 BREADED MEAT (Both Type) £39 oz FISH PORTION i” lb COOKED WHOLE BREADED LOBSTER 5 3 ' Ib HADDOCK i” lb COOKED BLUE CRAB CLAW 1” Ib BREADED COO i” lb BREADED SHRIMP 4.7 STUFFED CLAMS JOB doz (3 Tray Pack) Basket DUNGENESS CRAB 2” Ib LARGE STUFFED CLAMS 299 doz On May 11, investigators from that office and the office of the Fulton County Solicitor General raided the Atlanta Surgi-Center. Patient records, files and other material were seized in an attempt to find out whether the clinic was following state regulations governing abortion clincs. According to Donald Stoop, investigator in the office of Fulton District Attorney Lewis R. Slaton, no charges were filed. Ms. Pierce’s daughter, 11, will receive 100,000 in a lump sum p< monthly for life. Violations were found at the Surgi-Center after an unan nounced raid July 12, 1989, by the state Department of Human Resources. Serious problems were listed in a notice sent to the abortion clinic with a letter threatening to revoke the facility’s permit effective Aug. 24, 1989. One area of the report concerned administering of anesthesia and the protocol used. The same dosages were Nicaraguan Ambush given five patients March 11, 1989 although the weights of the women ranged from 107 to 167 pounds. According to the document, the consultant anesthesiologist stated that she had been in the facility "perhaps a couple of times” in 1988 and that she had drop ped in occasionally in 1989. She expressed surprise at the dose of anesthetic being used and the fact that a standard dose was used for each patient regardless of weight. The document also stated that the records of a “com plicated case” on March 11, 1989, did not clearly indicate the condition of the person on discharge from the facility, did not show that oxygen was administered, and did not show that a facility staff member accompanied the patient upon transfer. Last Friday, Jan. 5, Marjorie Smith, deputy director of the Office of Regulatory Services of the DHR, said her of-< fice has entered into a consent order with the abortion clinic < in which the facility has agreed to do certain additional pro-' cedures and take additional actions that would further pro tect patients receiving care there. “They have assured us they have corrected the problems mentioned” in the report, she said. “We will be monitoring them very closely." Nuns Mourned, Attackers In Dispute FOND DU LAC, Wis. (CNS) — About 700 mourners gathered Jan. 5 for a funeral Mass at a Fond du Lac Catholic church for an American nun who was killed, along with a Nicaraguan nun, in a New Year’s Day ambush by unknown gunmen in northeast Nicaragua. “We have here this even ing the rare privilege of be ing witnesses to martyrs in our day, no less glorious than in the past,” said Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, who was main celebrant at the Mass at St. Joseph Church. Sister Maureen Court ney, 45, of Milwaukee, and Sister Teresa Rosales, 24, a Nicaraguan, were killed Jan. 1 after the vehicle they were driving went over an explosive and then was fired upon on a road to Puerto Cabezas, some 200 miles northeast of Managua. The nuns were members of the Congrega tion of the Sisters of St. Agnes of Fond du Lac, Wis. The archbishop told the crowd, which included /utter and fTIcLellan Insurance 711 Lenox Towers, 3400 Peachtree Road, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30326 (404) 261-7212 The only insurance people you’ll ever need’’ your Krrdtfxodtni ktsurotxr M aqeivt The Butterfly Religious Gifts for all occasions Now Located at The Weekenders Mall 1205 N. Highway 85 - Fayetteville All Books 15% Off. Open Friday & Saturday -10 A.M. - 6 P.M. Sunday 12 Noon - 6 P.M. 460-7412 (Bring this ad in on Friday for an extra 10% off!) Local Mass For Weekend Hunters • Guided Hunts • Season Memberships WHITE OAK FARM Jackson, GA 30233 404-775-2619 White Oak Farm more than 200 nuns from the order and 20 Nica raguans, that the deaths of the nuns “should now prod us on to greater witness of love and service to others. “As we admire their zeal, we must now imitate it in our own lives,” the archbishop said. The nuns were killed about 7 p.m. as they were driving to a pastoral meeting in Puerto Cabezas. Wounded in the attack were Wisconsin-born Aux iliary Bishop Paul Schmitz, 46, and a third Sister of St. Agnes, Sister Francisca Colomer, who is a Nica- rguan in her early 20s. Bishop Schmitz, a Capuchin and auxiliary of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bluefields, Nicaragua, was transferred Jan. 6 from a Managua hospital to St. FEDERAL AND STATE TAX RETURNS PREPARED FAST ACCURATE AFFORDABLE FOR FEES AND APPOINTMENT CALL OR WRTTE COLONIAL SERVICES 6330 AMHERST CT. SUITE 25 NORCROSS, GA. 30092 (404) 448-7085 "Horne Of Hard To Hind Items" Anything in Hardware- * Since 1935 * Open 7 Days 601 E College Av Dec 373-3335 1248 W Paces Ferry Rd NW 261-6000 2133 Roswell Rd NE Mreta 073-3636 775 Whitlock Av SW Mreta 422-1646 8560 Holcomb Bridge Rd Alph 587-1800 5920 Roswell RdNW 256-2560 Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac, hospital spokes woman Kathy Lemke told Catholic News Service Jan. 8. He was recuperating trom injuries to his left arm, which include nerve problems and several broken bones, she said. Both of his eardrums were ruptured as well during the attack, she said. Sister Colomer, who suf fered shrapnel wounds to her face and chest, was released Jan. 7 from a Managua hospital, Sister of St. Agnes Leanne Sitter told CNS. The Nicaraguan govern ment blamed the contras for the killing and produced two witnesses Jan. 5 who said they saw the nuns kill ed by the rebels. The witnesses, identified as Ronald Dolores Mai- rena, 16, and Jaime Arauz Lopez, 20, told a news con ference in Managua, Nica ragua, they could identify the leader ot a group of about 60 contras responsi ble for the attack. The two said they were kidnapped by the assailants and wit nessed the killings while in custody, but later escaped. Contra rebel leaders said their forces had not been in the area. In Washington, the White House and State Department condemned the killings, but said they had no evidence the attack was carried out by the rebels. Bishop Schmitz said it was too dark for him to be able to identify the assailants and that the shooting stopped once the group identified itself as religious workers, leading church officials to believe it was not a personal attack on the church workers. Sister Courtney had been in Nicaragua since 1978, working primarily with Miskito Indians in the area. She taught catechism and helped develop sewing cooperatives with the women villagers.
