The Cut-Rate Osteopath

Most of the patients who entered the modest house in north-central Los Angeles were poor Mexican aliens, and most were pregnant women. They were drawn to the makeshift clinic, called the Highland Medical Center, by the low child-delivery fees charged by Osteopath Joseph Emory, 55. Since 1974, in fact, Emory has delivered more than 700 babies, usually charging between $200 and $300 per case. Despite the low fees, the clinic's services were apparently no bargain. Last week Emory was arrested and charged with the murder of ten of the more than 25 infants who, during the past two years, died soon after being born at the clinic. His wife and 32-year-old son, who despite having no medical certification served as his assistants, were also booked for murder. The deaths, charged Deputy D.A. Dinko Bozanich, stemmed from "a wanton and reckless disregard for life."

Emory's arrest was not his first. In 1962, he was convicted of second-degree murder of a patient who died after an illegal abortion. In 1963, while free on appeal from his first conviction, he was convicted of performing another illegal abortion, was subsequently sent to prison on that charge for three years and had his license revoked. Soon after his license was reinstated in May 1974, he began the cut-rate deliveries that led to his newest arrest.

At week's end the district attorney's office had not revealed what evidence had led to its murder charge, but noted that it was not excluding the possibility of "intentional" killings. Said a D.A. spokesman: "This calls into question the licensing procedures of the state board of osteopathic examiners and the state board of health. Why was this man licensed? And why, after a murder conviction and the rest of his record, was his license reinstated?"

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