Diane Sawyer and the Non-Story of Lawson Akpulonu

If you came in on this page, please start reading on Page 1

Page 3 of 3

It turns out that had Diane Sawyer decided to look into this "non-story," she'd have found a history of filth and quackery.

A July 17, 1991 inspection of Akpulonu's facility had found:

• "Filthy rest room with no tiolet paper"
  
• "Reports of unsterile instruments being used in operating room"
  
• Fumes perservering after anesthesia
  
• No registered nurse at the facility
• Akpulonu performing abortions alone, with no assistant
  
• "No scrub room and inadequate supply of gowns and gloves"
  
• Blood on floor and curtains of the operating room
  
• The facility was operating with an expired license
  
• Blood specimins were discarded rather than sent to a lab for testing

When inspectors returned in August and September of 1991, they found:

• "Employees were trained to clean hoses used in medical procedures in running cold water by working the hoses manually to flush out all blood and tissue."
  
• "Gloves were not worn."
  
• "Employees were trained to dump tissue jars into the sink and run the contents through the garbage disposal."
  
• "All instruments were rinsed in cold water in the sink and put in the autoclave, which was rusty and too small to permit closing of the lid when the instruments were in it"
  
• There were no pathology reports on abortion tissues.
  
• Disposable plastic syringes were being re-used.
  
• "The clinic smelled of rotting tissues, the surgery room was splattered with blood and some other rooms were filled with dust."
  
• "Rat droppings were found in the surgery room and in the hall."

Despite these filthy conditions, Akpulonu's clinic remained open. A May 1993 inspection found:

• "Repsondent did not use gloves during medical procedures and advised his medical assistants that they did not need to use gloves unless they had a cut on their finger or hand."
  
• "Repsondent brought his entire staff into the examination room to observe a patient who had a severe case of genital warts."
  
• No pathology reports were done on abortion tissues.
  
• There was no refrigeration for blood and tissue samples or for medications.
  
• There was "no on-site equipment for handling emergencies."
  
• Fetuses less than 18 to 24 weeks were flushed down the garbage disposal.
  
• Equipment was not properly sterilized between procedures.

Still Akpulonu's facility managed to remain open. A July/August 1993 inspection found:

• Staff were now flushing fetuses of less than five months down the toilet.
  
• Staff were not trained in infection control.
  
• Equipment was still not being sterilized between procedures.
  
• "Employees assisting in medical procedures were not provided aprons, masks or hair covers."
  
• Staff were re-using single use equipment "such as plastic equipment inserted in patients' vaginas and tubing that transported products of conception."

Even this was not enough to close Akpulonu's clinic down. A September, 1993 inspection found:

• A foul odor in exam rooms
  
• A dirty autoclave containing rusty, dirty, tissue-encrusted instruments
  
• An employee containing dirty equipment without wearing gloves because the employee had been instructed by Akpulonu "that if the employee sesired to work at respondent's clinic, the employee would not wear gloves when dealing with bodily fluids."
  
• When the employee indicated intent to report this to health authorities, Akpulonu told the employee he would see to it that the employee never got another job in the health care field.

Still Akpulonu remained in business. A February 1994 inspection found:

• Blood products improperly stored in improperly labeled, leaking containers
  
• No soap, antiseptic, or towels at hanswashing facilities
  
• Improper storage of hazardous waste
  
• Inadequate personal protective equipent for staff.
  
• Missing emergency equipment
  
• Poor housekeeping
  
• Improper record keeping
  
• "Training was inapprpopriately given by and employee with only one week of employment and did not include information on the handling of an exposure incident."

The facility still remained open. A March 1994 inspection found:

• IV needles were not disposed of properly.
  
• There were improperly labeled blood products stored in open cupboards.
  
• There were still no towels at the handwashing site.
  
• The emergency exit was blocked.
  
• There wre no gowns, face shields, or goggles for staff.
  
• The emergency equipment was still missing
  
• The housekeeping was still poor.
  
• The record keeping was still inadequate.
  
• "Biohazardous waste was improperly stored in paper boxes."
  
• "Maintenance room contained an unlabeled and blocked electrical panel as well as a floor covered with large wires creating a hazard."

So at the time we contacted Diane Sawyer's assistant and sent her the nurse's complaint, Akpulonu already had a four-year history of dangerous behavior posing a threat to women's health and lives. Ms. Sawyer would have quickly uncovered this situation, as did we, with a single fax to the California medical board. But she and her staff either did not bother to investigate, or had reviewed this four year string of disgusting inspections and had still dismissed it as "a non-story."

After the allegations of patient A.A. became public, a warrent was issued for Akpulonu's arrest on charges of rape. He fled. His whereabout are still unknown. He and his facility remain "a non-story."

And by the way, Akpulonu's qualification for being the owner, manager, and abortionist for a California clinic was that he was a podiatrist.

Would Diane Sawyer have considered Lawson Akpulonu's exploits "a non-story" if he had been a doctor at a prolife pregnancy center? Tell us what you think in the Forum.

Go to beginning of this story

Previous Articles

View the Cemetery of Choice Calendar