Sixteen-year-old Patty underwent a second-trimester abortion at the hands of either Edward Allred or Leslie Orleans at Allred's Avalon Hospital in Los Angeles on the morning of March 3, 1984. Patty retained fetal tissues, so she was scheduled for a second procedure that afternoon to complete the abortion.
There are conflicting stories as to what happened next. Allred claimed that Patty died of an embolism during the second surgery (he pronounced her dead at 4:30 PM). Patty's parents claim that Patty bled to death while left unattended.
An autopsy found numerous catgut sutures in Patty's vagina and hemorrhage in her uterus. Death was attributed to disseminated intravascular coagulopathy due to abortion-induced amniotic fluid embolism. Patty's parents sued Allred and Orleans for their daughter's death.
Avalon Hospital was part of Edward Allred's Family Planning Associates Medical Group, a National Abortion Federation member facility.
Sources: LA County Coroner Report No. 84-2948; Daily Breeze 3/2/85; Los Angeles Herald Examiner 3/3/85