Trigger Warning: Some details of the story are graphic.
Georgia couple Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. filed a lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, claiming that the doctor decapitated their son during delivery and was covered up by the hospital.
According to the lawsuit, Ross went into labor on July 9, wherein, her attending physician Dr. St. Julian “attempted to deliver the baby vaginally using different methods including applying traction to the baby’s head.”
Because of this, during the delivery, “the baby did not properly descend due to shoulder dystocia,” wherein, the baby’s shoulder becomes stuck in the vaginal canal.
However, St. Julian is said to have delayed the surgical procedure and failed to seek help promptly and instead applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, said Dr. Roderick Edmond, who is representing the couple.
According to Edmond, three hours had passed before St. Julian took Ross for a cesarean section, which is when the fetal monitor had stopped registering the heartbeat of the baby – he shared that during the cesarean section, St. Julian managed to remove the baby’s legs and body, but the head was delivered through the vagina.
Relatively, Ross and Taylor Sr. are said to have asked for a C-section prior to the operation but were denied their request. “My clients asked for a C-section much sooner than it was ever delivered while the baby was viable,” Edmond said.
The lawsuit also claimed that the doctor did not tell the couple what had happened to the baby and refused to let them hold the baby – showing them the baby while “wrapped tightly in a blanket with the head popped on top,” and didn’t know about the decapitation until four days after the delivery.
“They did everything in their power to not let the family know what actually happened on that day,” said Cory Lynch, who is also representing the couple.
As such, the hospital denies the allegations referencing the hospital, “While our heartfelt sympathies go out to the family, Southern Regional Medical Center denies the allegations in the Complaint referencing the hospital. Since this matter is in litigation, we are refrained from providing any additional information,” said in a statement by a spokesperson from the hospital. “Dr. St Julian [who is named in the lawsuit] is not an employee of the hospital. The hospital has taken the appropriate steps in response to this unfortunate situation.”
The complaint asks for compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to recovering the $10,000 (approx. P563,965) cost of their son’s funeral and burial.
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