ARTICLES
July/August 2001 ARTICLES
Contents © 2001
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
Dr. Makala Reddy was the general surgeon on call at Victor Valley hospital on April 13, 1998 when Anne Marie Santana came in after her botched abortion on April 10. Dr. Reddy performed "a diagnostic laparoscopy, exploratory laparotomy, resection of the distal small bowel with an ileal colostomy, tube cecostomy, and closure of uterine perforation." Following are excerpt's from Reddy's testimony before the state judge in December, 2000:
A I started with a laparoscopy.
Q Right.
A And then I noticed the overwhelming infection inside the abdomen. I decided I wouldn't be able to take care of her problem through a scope, so I decided to do a laparotomy, which is opening up her belly from above the navel down to the pubic bone by slicing through the layers of the abdominal wall.
Q And was that a vertical incision or a horizontal one?
A It was a vertical incision.
***
A When we peeled off the omentum that was adherent to the bowel lobes and the uterus abdominal wall, we discovered there was a hole in the uterus on the top of the uterus and there was a lot more fluid collection in the pelvis, which again was bowel contents mixed with pus and exudate, and then we noticed the hole in the lower part of the small intestine....
***
Q Okay. So if Dr. Durante's records were to indicate that he spoke to you before surgery, they would be inaccurate; is that correct?
A That's correct.
Q. Okay. Doctor, do you know Dr. Albano?
A Yes, I do.
Q Did Dr. Albano ever consult with you conderning this surgical course that Ms. [Santana] had to undertake at the hospital?
A No, he didn't.
Q So if Dr. Durante's records indicated Dr. Albano consulted with you, they would be innacurate; would they not, sir?
A Yes.