BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – A prominent women’s hospital in Massachusetts is accused of losing the remains of a child who only lived two weeks.
Alana Ross and Daniel McCarthy sued Brigham & Women’s Hospital on June 23 in Suffolk County Superior Court, along with several health care workers and Mass General Brigham. The incident occurred almost two years ago, and Baby Everleigh’s body still hasn’t been located, the suit says.
Confusion in the morgue led to the further suffering of Everleigh’s parents, the suit says.
“While holding Baby Everleigh, Defendant (Jennifer) Conrado asked someone inside of the morgue where Baby Everleigh’s remains should be placed,” the suit says. “Defendant Conrado believed she was speaking with an employee of the Pathology Department.
“In reality, she was asking Defendant (Jose) Lopes, who was employed in Patient Transport.”
Lopes allegedly told Conrado, “You can put it anywhere.”
Staff who knew Lopes worked in transport and overheard the exchange apparently did nothing. Plus, a bracelet scanning system was not utilized, while the linens with the child did not have embedded chips – as some do at BWH, the suit says. Everleigh was placed inappropriately on a metal rack, the suit says.
The linens were thrown out on Aug. 7, 2020, having been logged as “soiled.” The suit says Everleigh’s remains were within them and were transported to the company that cleans them.
Three days later, the funeral home contracted to handle Everleigh’s remains arrived to pick them up. It was then revealed the body was missing, the suit says.
An investigation had employees at a waste transfer company digging through hundreds of pounds of medical waste but she was not found, the suit says.
Everleigh was born several months early on July 25, 2020. She suffered medical complications. When treatment would not help, her family baptized her on Aug. 6, 2020, before she passed.
The suit alleges breach of contract, negligence, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and tortious interference with human remains.
Greg Henning of Henning Strategies and Patrick Driscoll of Boyle Shaughnessy are representing the plaintiffs.