GOSNELL (The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer)

GOSNELL The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer

This was a book that truly horrified me.  The things revealed in this detailed account of Gosnell’s "work" over the years are some of the most horrific stories I have ever heard.  Sincerely.  There were definitely moments while reading this book that I had to stop, put the book down and step away for a few minutes.  It’s truly maniacal and abhorrent what this man has gotten away with. 
 
I’ll give you a little rundown but, I am not going to tell you too much because I want you to read the book.  There’s also a movie made about this guy so I am going to be trying to find that soon as well.
 
Basically, what we have here is a man who is a sworn doctor and is trusted to perform medical and abortion services to the best of his ability and while observing every law regarding such matters.  Needless to say, this is NOT what happened.
 
This is a man who has perverted the field of medicine.  Preying on the already poor, the already weak and the already victimized to make his money. He turned his practice into a revolving door of back alley abortions, illegal medications, drug trafficking and murder.
 
The biggest crime this man committed is a crime against humanity.  These women, his patients, came to him needing help, needing an expert, needing medical care and treatments.  What they got was something far below standards of care and treatment so careless and inhumane that I would classify it as a form of torture.
 
What I read about in this book details the crimes of a man who only sees himself and the bottom line. He has no concern for human beings, especially for women, their struggles with womanhood and motherhood, the dangers of practicing improper medicine and the letter of the law.
 
He had unqualified people in the nurse role, doling out narcotic medication and sedatives without any knowledge of dosages, what can’t be mixed with what, no training on health codes and sanitation and disinfection.  He had flea-infested cats roaming his practice, the operating rooms, the recovery areas, reception, everywhere.  There was cat urine and feces all over the facility.  There was dried blood, fresh blood and all kinds of other things contaminating the facility.
 
Woman were lied to about the gestational age of their fetuses.  Babies were born alive and then killed, instead of performing the correct procedure or refusing to do the procedure altogether.  He routinely performed procedures on women who were carrying fetuses BEYOND the legal gestational age for termination.  These women would be told they were just under the wire when in reality, they were way over it.
 
The things that stick out in my mind and made me have an OMG moment were these:
 
Gosnell delivered fully developed, healthy babies time and time again and murdered them after delivery.
Gosnell had a collection of severed baby feet in his office.  Many different baby’s feet.
He stored the removed fetuses in cut off milk jugs and left them in his facility.
He had women “recovering” from these procedures in hard wooden chairs with no medication or antibiotics.
His facility was beyond filthy.
No government or state agency EVER fully did their job.
 
Gosnell’s facility was called on by a number of officials numerous times.  They almost always seemed to either overlook the obvious nastiness or they didn’t follow through with calling him out on it.  None of his staff was ever checked out and in fact, staff at other clinics and facilities were directing patients to Gosnell. Medical and nursing schools were directing would-be professionals to go intern at Gosnell’s office!  Seems everyone was either clueless or in denial about the tragedies that were occurring at 3801 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia. 
 
There’s much, much more detail to this story.  I’ve only brushed the surface of the horrors this man and his personnel put these woman and infants to.  And his personnel were almost just as bad as he was.
 
Still, the actual number of deaths that occurred at his clinic will never be known.  But, at least we know what we know…now.
 
The most gruesome and horrifying things you can read for yourself.  You must get this if you love true crime.  This is a serial killer of a different order than what we are used to. I highly recommend this book. Just be ready for some shock factor.
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars