Marie Smith, 33, of West Philadelphia told the Daily News last month that she nearly died after Gosnell performed an abortion on her in 1999.
Smith said that doctors told her that the arm and leg of the fetus had been left inside her. She sued him in 2001 and was awarded $5,000, court records show.
Another patient, Dana Haynes, sued Gosnell in 2008, claiming that he had lacerated her uterus, cervix and small bowel during an abortion in 2008, according to court documents.
Haynes claimed that Gosnell allowed her to bleed for hours before calling an ambulance.
Other patients told similar tales and depicted the clinic as dirty and frightening.
The malpractice complaints were made worse by allegations that Gosnell was relying on uncertified employees to medicate and examine patients.
State officials fined him $1,000 in 1996 because an uncertified assistant had treated one patient and had written a prescription in 1990.
Last month, state investigators said that an unlicensed employee had medicated a pregnant woman, Karnamay Mongar, who died after an abortion at the clinic in November.
Gosnell's attorney did not let him address any of the claims leveled against him and noted that he has not been charged with a crime. But the doctor said that students from numerous local medical schools have worked at his clinic over the years.
He was clearly irked by claims that his clinic was "deplorable" or had "bloodstained floors," as state investigators had said.
"If you're looking for a hospital setting, it's very different. It's designed to be comfortable for our patients," Gosnell said, as he showed this reporter iPhone photos taken inside his clinic, which appeared bright and clean.
Gosnell noted that in December he asked officials from the National Abortion Federation (NAF) to evaluate his clinic.
"They didn't raise any concerns about cleanliness," Gosnell said. "The only issues were administrative. There was no clinical, technical or hygienic criticism at all."
"That's not true at all," said Vicki Saporta, president of NAF, who was dumbfounded by Gosnell's account of how the agency had assessed him.
Saporta told the Daily News yesterday that officials from the NAF, which sets the standard for abortion care in North America, visited Gosnell's clinic for two days because he had requested to become a member of the federation.
She said that NAF "denied his membership request" because the clinic didn't meet the federation's standards.
"There were 19 areas where [the clinic] was in noncompliance with our guidelines. It was quite extensive," Saporta said.
Gosnell, however, appears to believe that his clinic is inviting and comfortable even as outside agencies view it as anything but.
Gosnell's attorney forbade him from addressing much of the other disturbing accusations, noting that the doctor hasn't even been charged with a crime.
But he was clearly bothered by the Frankenstein-like portrait that much of the public has of him because of recent news stories.
"No one is perfect. Everyone tries to be perfect. I aspire to perfection, certainly for my patients," he said, as his eyes drifted and voice trailed off.
Finally, he settled on a thought. "I feel in the long term I will be vindicated."
Staff writer Dana DiFilippo contributed to this report.
