Police are now investigating after a lawsuit alleging a baby was decapitated during delivery on July 9 was filed in Clayton County against Southern Regional Medical Center and others.
Police are now investigating after a lawsuit alleging a baby was decapitated during delivery on July 9 was filed in Clayton County against Southern Regional Medical Center and others.
Surgical tech here. I’ve done a metric fuck-ton of c-sections, and those cases can be brutal as hell. Never been in on a vaginal delivery, cuz that’s not OR territory, but c-sections are the kind of case you’re on high alert for the entire time cuz shit can go south really fast for both mother and baby. The amount of force I’ve seen (and contributed to) applied to get a baby out is definitely in dismemberment territory if there was some defect at play.
Some of the most horrific things I’ve seen in the OR have been in the c-section room. But they’re the kind of thing that if you don’t do, it’s basically a death sentence for the mom or the baby.
Based on my own experience, I’d give the doc and delivery team the benefit of the doubt in terms of the operation: extreme circumstances can call for an extreme response, and when that doesn’t work, the result is also extreme. This is a case that will haunt the staff involved all the way to the grave - really hope the hospital hooks them all up with top-notch therapy after that shit.
The lack of transparency after the fact though is 100% inexcusable, but also unsurprising coming from a private hospital. Their decisions are driven by money and PR. Ethics are a tie breaker at best.
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Most places recognize civil causes of action for negligent or intentional mishandling of a corpse, or interference with the disposition of a corpse. I think the result here does not necessarily impute medical negligence but it definitely warrants liability for their handling after the fact, as you’ve said. What a case. Wonder what the hospital will settle for.
I mean, if someone’s going for a radical C-section definitely either mom, the baby, or both are about to die. But dude this is fucked up. I wouldn’t give the benefit of the doubt here, personally. She should be sued and she should lose. But I suppose arguably it shouldn’t define her career. She’s been practicing for 20 years it looks like without any problems. Something went drastically wrong here but I agree with you that chaos is unfortunately part of medicine and definitely is in labor and delivery.
As for swaddling the severed head and body… I kind of also understand. Again, this is extraordinary. Everyone else in the room is as shocked as the rest of us are. What are they going to do, hold up the two halves and say “whoopsie doodle?”
As for denying an autopsy and trying to cover everything up, the hospital should be metaphorically burned to the ground. If the obstetrician was involved, that SHOULD define her career and it should be over.