Current:Home > InvestA lawsuit accuses a Georgia doctor of decapitating a baby during delivery-InfoLens
A lawsuit accuses a Georgia doctor of decapitating a baby during delivery
View Date:2024-12-23 11:10:21
ATLANTA (AP) — A doctor used too much force and decapitated a Georgia woman’s baby during delivery, according to a lawsuit attorneys said was filed Wednesday.
The baby’s mother and father, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., attended a news conference in Atlanta where their attorneys announced the lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, where Ross went on July 9 to have her son. Riverdale is about 13 miles (20 kilometers) south of Atlanta.
“They were so excited about the birth of their first child,” said attorney Cory Lynch. “Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center.”
Calls to St. Julian’s office went unanswered, and an email message was not immediately returned. The Associated Press was not able to determine whether she had an attorney.
Southern Regional said in statements it could not discuss treatment for particular patients due to privacy laws, but it denies the allegations against it. Its “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” were with Ross and Taylor and their care providers, it said.
“Our commitment is to provide compassionate, quality care to every single patient, and this loss is heartbreaking,” the hospital said. It later added that St. Julian was not an employee of the hospital, and it had “taken the appropriate steps in response to this unfortunate situation.”
A spokeswoman, Kimberly Golden-Benner, said the hospital could not elaborate. St. Julian is part of a health care group called Premier Women’s Obgyn that has two locations and offers circumcisions, infertility treatment and other services in addition to low- and high-risk obstetric care, according to its website. St. Julian is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who has been practicing in the Atlanta area since January 2005, the website says.
According to the suit, the baby got stuck during delivery, but St. Julian delayed a surgical procedure and failed to seek help quickly. Instead, she applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, attorney Roderick Edmond, who is also a physician, said.
Roughly three hours passed before St. Julian took Ross, 20, for a cesarean section, according to the suit. By then, a fetal monitor had stopped registering a heartbeat.
The cesarean section removed the baby’s legs and body, but the head was delivered vaginally, according to Edmond.
The couple asked for a C-section earlier, when the baby still could have survived, but were denied, Edmond said.
He said the case highlighted the higher rates of infant and maternal mortality for Black women.
Ross and Taylor, 21, did not speak at Wednesday’s news conference. Their attorneys also accused Southern Regional staff of trying to cover up the decapitation by discouraging the couple from getting an autopsy, encouraging them to have their son cremated and wrapping and propping his body to make it appear the head was still attached.
The suit alleges gross negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified punitive damages.
veryGood! (6165)
Related
- Reese Witherspoon's Daughter Ava Phillippe Introduces Adorable New Family Member
- AP PHOTOS: Israel-Hamas war’s 9th day leaves survivors bloody and grief stricken
- Massive NYC landfill-to-park project hits a milestone; first section opens to the public
- Arrest made in airport parking garage shooting that killed Philadelphia officer and injured another
- Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says he was detained in airport over being ‘disoriented’
- The origins of candy corn: A divisive delicacy, destined to be a Halloween tradition
- Australia looks for new ways to lift Indigenous living standards after referendum loss
- Threats in U.S. rising after Hamas attack on Israel, says FBI Director Christopher Wray
- Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
- Kim Ng, MLB’s 1st female GM, is leaving the Miami Marlins after making the playoffs in 3rd season
Ranking
- Jessica Simpson’s Sister Ashlee Simpson Addresses Eric Johnson Breakup Speculation
- Mary Lou Retton's Family Shares Remarkable Update Amid Gymnast's Battle With Rare Illness
- Sports, internet bets near-record levels in New Jersey, but 5 of 9 casinos trail pre-pandemic levels
- Afghanistan earthquake relief efforts provided with $12 million in U.S. aid
- Taylor Swift drops Christmas merchandise collection, including for 'Tortured Poets' era
- Proud Boys member pleads guilty to obstruction charge in Jan. 6 attack on Capitol
- In Hamas’ horrific killings, Israeli trauma over the Holocaust resurfaces
- Judge to hear arguments on proposed Trump gag order in Jan. 6 case
Recommendation
-
'This dude is cool': 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge brings realism to literary detective
-
A top EU official convenes a summit to deal with a fallout in Europe from the Israel-Hamas war
-
CDC director Cohen, former Reps. Butterfield and Price to receive North Carolina Award next month
-
Trump’s Iowa campaign ramps up its organizing after his infamously chaotic 2016 second-place effort
-
Klay Thompson returns to Golden State in NBA Cup game. How to watch
-
Norway’s prime minister shuffles Cabinet after last month’s local election loss
-
Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 86
-
Hackers attack Guatemalan government webpages in support of pro-democracy protests