A Massachusetts couple is suing Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for allegedly losing the remains of their baby who suffered a prenatal death.
Alana Ross and Daniel McCarthy, the parents of the deceased infant, filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court Thursday alleging that the remains of the infant went missing while funeral and burial services were being planned, according to Boston 25 News.
The parents of a premature baby who passed away at a Boston hospital have filed a lawsuit after the infant’s remains got lost in the facility’s morgue. https://t.co/pK7edkPNuv
— Boston 25 News (@boston25) June 24, 2022
Ross gave birth prematurely on July 25, 2020, and the baby, whom they named Everleigh, suffered medial complications and had to be taken to the NICU for treatment, Boston 25 News reported. On Aug. 1, the parents were permitted to hold their child, but Everleigh passed away shortly after. (RELATED: Boy Sets Record For Most Premature Baby To Survive)
Alana Ross had already endured two heartbreaking miscarriages by the time she became pregnant with the baby she came to call Everleigh. https://t.co/957Wo8aZ38
— WISN 12 NEWS (@WISN12News) June 24, 2022
The lawsuit alleges that an unnamed Brigham and Women’s Hospital employee assured the couple that baby Everleigh’s body would “safely be transported to the morgue” so that service arrangements could be made, according to the outlet.
When staff from the funeral home Ross and McCarthy selected showed up at Brigham and Women’s to secure Everleigh’s remains, the body was allegedly nowhere to be found in the hospital morgue, according to Boston 25 News. The lawsuit alleges that the body was likely thrown out with “soiled linens” from the morgue. (RELATED: Biden Admin Knew The Baby Formula Shortage Was Coming In February)
The Boston Police Department intervened in the search for the baby, and officers spent hours searching through thrown-out linens from the morgue, “digging through blood-soaked clothing, feces-covered linens, and other medical waste,” the outlet reported.
Ross and McCarthy also accused Brigham and Women’s Hospital of failing to properly document the baby’s remains, according to the outlet.
The Massachusetts couple also argued that a patient transport worker at the hospital told nurses who were responsible with transporting the remains of the child that they could “put it anywhere,” Boston 25 News reported. Everleigh’s body has not yet been found.