Woman Wins $600K From Botched Abortion Malpractice Lawsuit

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 11, 2012   |   12:50PM   |   Jackson, MS

A Mississippi woman has won a legal settlement related to a botched abortion done on her by abortion practitioner Joseph Booker, who worked at two different abortion facilities in the state years ago.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Bill Gowan awarded $600,435 for the failed 2003 abortion to Daschica Thomas and her husband, Christopher Thomas after no one showed up at the November 29 trial of the lawsuit they filed against Booker, who worked for the Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion business as well as the National Women’s Health Organization abortion facility.

The Clarion Ledger newspaper provides more details about the lawsuit:

The lawsuit alleges that Booker stopped performing the abortion shortly after starting it and said he was unable to finish it. He recommended that Thomas come back so it could be completed by another doctor. “Booker did not recommend antibiotics to her,” according to court papers. Thomas, a diabetic, began cramping and went home, but there “she continued to spot, bleed and she felt dizzy, sick and feverish.”

The abortion led to sepsis poisoning, and Thomas was in a coma for a week and half, according to the lawsuit.

“As default judgment has been entered, all factual allegations must be taken as true and if those facts establish a legal basis for recovery, plaintiff is entitled to recover,” Gowan said. “The court does find the factual allegations establish a medical malpractice action and is therefore inclined to award damages.”

Gowan awarded $500,000 in noneconomic damages to the couple, of which $100,000 goes to the husband; $19,820.83 to Thomas for lost wages and $9,700 to her husband for lost wages; $64,914.60 for Thomas’ medical bills; and $6,000 in punitive damages.

“The court was very methodical in its ruling and very fair,” the couple’s attorney, John Reeves of Jackson, said. “Mrs. Thompson and her husband were terribly wronged, and we now have this judgment that we look forward to collecting.”

The newspaper was unable to reach Booker for comment.

Meanwhile, All Women’s Healthcare, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, will not be subjected to the award because it has changed hands and is under new ownership and Booker no longer works there. Booker is reportedly seeking his own claim against the abortion facility for not responding to the lawsuit on his behalf. He claims abortion business owner Dianne Derzis terminated his employment because he would not violate FDA guidelines and he says race played a role as he was replaced by a white abortion practitioner.