A woman is suing Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, claiming medical negligence as the abortion chain diagnosed her with constipation. In reality, she had severe fibroids.
Kipenzi Chidinma accused Planned Parenthood of medical malpractice after she went to the facility in March of 2022 for a well check. She told the doctor there that she was experiencing abnormally heavy vaginal bleeding, headaches, hormonal imbalance, and other problems. Additionally, Chidinma told the doctor, Catherine Khoo, that she was bloated, and that there was a mass in her stomach.
She requested an ultrasound, but Khoo refused, and said the patient was merely constipated.
“Despite plaintiff’s repeated efforts, (Planned Parenthood) utilized their position of superior knowledge and wrongfully, negligently and incorrectly diagnosed plaintiff with simple constipation,” her lawsuit said.
Despite persistently asking for more testing to be done, Chidinma’s pleas were ignored, as well as her request for a referral to a specialist. When her condition got worse over the course of several months, she returned to Planned Parenthood, again asking for help. She requested an ultrasound, and only then was told that the facility didn’t have any ultrasound equipment.
Finally, after having been refused at first, they approved her referral to a specialist.
At the appointment with her new provider, she said it took them less than one minute to find out that not only was her uterus massively expanded, but there were masses present. Chidinma contacted her insurance provider to get coverage from a different provider; at that visit, she found out she had large, advanced fibroids.
Uterine fibroids are tumors which are typically benign. In rare cases, they are known to cause infertility, which Chidinma says she is now at risk of; because Planned Parenthood refused to take her concerns seriously, non-surgical options are no longer available, and she will need to undergo surgery to have the fibroids treated.
There are two surgical options to remove fibroids; the first, a myomectomy, removes the fibroids while attempting to preserve the healthy tissue in the uterus. However, the second surgical option is a hysterectomy, which could be why Chidinma’s lawsuit said she is now facing infertility.
In addition to physical harm done, Chidinma is suing for emotional distress and economic losses.
