John Biskind, 75, took the stand today and defended his care of Lou Ann Herron. That care did not stop 33-year-old Lou Ann from bleeding to death after an abortion by Biskind in A-Z Women's Center in Phoenix on April 17, 1998.

Biskind, who already had an abortion patient, Lisa Bardsley, die under his care, said, "I can't imagine it. It was mindboggling to me that it could happen in such a short time. It is terrible to have a patient die."

Biskind said that Herron appeared ready to be discharged from the clinic when he left shortly after 4 p.m. (When emergency help arrived twenty minutes later, Lou Ann was dead and cold to the touch.) However, Biskind also said that he knew some time after 3:15 p.m. that she was unresponsive to assistants' efforts to rouse her. Biskind attributed the unresponsiveness to the Demerol she'd been given for the abortion, and ordered a dose of Narcan, which counteracts the effects of narcotics.

Witnesses for the prosecution had indicated earlier in the trial that Lou Ann's unresponsive state was a sign of the massive blood loss from a two-inch hole torn in her uterus during the abortion. They noted that had Biskind performed tests or a pelvic exam, he would have detected the bleeding. Biskind, however, denied having any reason to suspect that Lou Ann was bleeding excessively -- despite earlier testimony by assistants who were alarmed at the blood loss.

During the first twelve days of the trial, jurors were given graphic evidence, including autopsy photos, showing the injuries to Lou Ann and detailing how she died. But a judge blocked prosecutors from telling the jury about Biskind's unsavory past, including previous botched abortions and he death of Lisa Bardsley.

Defense expert Dr. Carl Hoffman of North Carolina said that Lou Ann's 90/50 blood pressure after her abortion could have been normal for her, and that the amount of blood seen in the recovery room was normal after an abortion. News coverage of the trial did not indicate what Lou Ann's blood pressure was prior to the abortion, or whether or not she indicated in her medical history that she normally has such a low blood pressure.

Hoffman also disagreed with a prosecution expert who said that Biskind should have felt "a pop" when the instrument went through Lou Ann's uterus. Hoffman said that from the location of the injury, neither Biskind nor Lou Ann would have felt it.

Clinic administrator Carol Stuart-Schadoff is also being tried for manslaughter in the case, on the grounds that she failed to schedule a recovery room nurse the day of Lou Ann's abortion, left the injured patient's care to inexperienced assistants, and delayed calling 911.

Update 2/15/01: Biskind admitted that even after a frantic staffer had called him, saying that Lou Ann was struggling to breathe and had no pulse, he went to a tailor. Maricopa County Deputy Paul Ahler was unable to rattle Biskind, despite asking him, "Did you feel it was more important for you to go to a tailor shop than go back and check on Mrs. Herron?"

Biskind responded calmly that he figured that the clinic staff and paramedics would be able to take care of Lou Ann.

Biskind also faulted the staffers with failure to tell him that Lou Ann had reported that her legs had gone numb. His defense largely rests on the idea that he had no way of knowing that there was any reason to be concerned about Lou Ann's condition before leaving the facility shortly after 4 p.m.

Biskind said that he was angry when he learned that Stuart-Schadoff had not scheduled a registered nurse to supervise the recovery room. However, instead of remaining on the premises himself to ensure that there was adequate medical supervision of patients in recovery, he instructed her to get an experienced medical assistant from another facility.

With Biskind as the last witness, the defense rested their case.

In closing arguments, the prosecution accused Biskind and Stuart Schadoff with tampering with medical records that were sent to the medical examiner's office the night of Lou Ann's death. The prosecution highlighted missing records, including two ultrasounds that would have shown Lou Ann's fetus to be 25 or 26 weeks. Only the ultrasound estimating fetal age at 23 weeks was sent to the medical examiner. A note was also enclosed to the effect that Lou Ann was a problem patient, troubled by recent abandonment by her husband and a serious automobile accident.

The defense denied any tampering with medical records, and blamed the medical assistants for failing to tell Biskind how much blood Herron was losing. Reports of the trial do not indicate how the defense addressed the autopsy photographs showing Lou Ann's bloody body, or whether Biskind himself checked on Lou Ann's condition personally before abandoning her.

Stuart-Schadoff's attorneys will make closing arguments, and the jury will retire to deliberate.

Update 2/16/01: Stuart-Schadoff's attorney, in closing arguments, said that his client was not responsible for Lou Ann's medical care. "She would have to know a crime was being committed before she can be an accomplice," he said, insisting that Stuart-Schadoff could not have predicted that her failure to schedule a recovery room nurse would result in a patient's death. He also denied that his client patricipated in any alteration of Lou Ann's medical records at the clinic.

He also alleged that the recovery room nurse, who had left for a medical appointment half an hour before Lou Ann's abortion, was the one responsible for the lack of adequate recovery room supervision, not the clinic administrator. Stuart-Schadoff's attorney also pointed out that since A to Z was an unlicensed doctor's office, and not a real clinic, state law did not require that there be an RN present when patients were in recovery.

Prosecutors, in their summary of their case against Biskind, noted that he had left the clinic when he did -- with a moribund patient in the recovery room -- because he had an appointment with a tailor. This is a departure from the usual reason abortionists leave patients with no properly trained staff to oversee their recovery: to catch a plane.

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