Hospital workers ‘throw premature baby girl out with soiled linen’

The parents of a premature baby girl have claimed she was thrown out with soiled linen – just days after she died.

Alana Ross and Daniel McCarthy’s daughter Everleigh was born in Boston on July 25 2020 but only lived for 12 days before she passed away on August 6.

Baby Everleigh, who weighed two pounds five ounces, had an underinflated lung and suffered from a brain bleed before she died, according to court documents cited by the Boston Globe.

She was taken to the morgue and on August 10, Ross, 37, received a call from the funeral home that they couldn’t find Everleigh’s body.

A lawsuit alleges that her body was thrown out with soiled linens.

Ross said: “There’s so much anger because they threw her out like trash.”

Detective Kevin Cook stated in a report that Everleigh was “probably mistaken as soiled linens and placed in the blue soiled linen bag inside the morgue examination room.”

The lawsuit reveals two nurses took Everleigh to the morgue after she died.

It claims that a nurse asked a transport worker where they could put the baby’s remains.

The transport worker apparently replied “anywhere”, according to the suit.

CCTV footage appears to show a pathologist carrying a bundle that he put into a container for soiled linens.

Cops spent hours trawling through clothing and medical waste to see if they could find Everleigh but were unsuccessful.

A worker told cops that it seemed the “likely scenario” was that the baby was thrown away in the container, Boston25 News reports.

Everleigh was Ross and McCarthy’s third pregnancy after they had lost their previous two babies.

Ross found out she was pregnant with Everleigh on Valentine’s Day.

McCarthy told WCVB: “We were ecstatic to start trying to start a family and just move into that chapter of our life.”

A scan that took place 18 weeks into the pregnancy revealed a complication and months later Ross had an emergency C-section.

Ross said that the only memory she has left is Everleigh’s footprints and a hat that she wore.

Ross and McCarthy are suing the Mass General Brigham and Brigham and Women’s Hospital for an alleged breach of contract.

They claimed workers failed to safeguard their daughter’s body.

They have also accused 14 workers of negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and tortious interference with human remains.

Sunni Eappen, the Chief Medical Officer of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told Boston25: “As with any instance in which there is a concern raised related to our standard of care or practice, we readily and transparently shared the details with the patient’s family.

“We always evaluate both system and human factors that contribute to errors or potential issues raised by patients, family members, or staff and take action.

“Due to pending litigation, we are unable to comment specifically on this case.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.