Atlanta Doctor Sued for Decapitating a Baby During Delivery and Not Following Protocol

Photo: Fox 5 Atlanta

An Atlanta couple, Jessica Ross and Treveon Taylor is suing a doctor and Southern Regional Medical Center for decapitating their baby during delivery in July. According to NBC News, Jessica Ross was experiencing labor complications because her baby's shoulder was stuck behind her pelvic bone. Therefore, the doctor performing the delivery, Dr. Tracey St. Julian, allegedly applied too much force when trying to get the baby out of the birth canal and pulled the infant's head off. According to NBC News, "St. Julian's alleged "tremendously excessive tension traction" on the head and neck of Ross' baby, named Treveon Isaiah Jr., resulted in multiple skull and facial bone fractures and hemorrhaging on his neck and brain and around his spinal cord, according to the suit."

The infant's parents, Jessica and Treveon, accused the hospital staff and the delivery doctor of negligence and trying to cover up the incident. According to CBS News, The parents alleged that the hospital staff encouraged them to cremate the baby's remains. The parents weren't aware of the baby's condition until the funeral home that had the body advised them of the cause of death.

According to CBS News, the family's lawyers stated, "When they wrapped this baby up tightly, they propped the baby's head up on top of the blanket to make it appear that the baby's head was attached, when it wasn't, St. Julian and the medical staff at the hospital failed to report the grisly incident to law enforcement. Instead, they allowed the couple to find out about the alleged decapitation from the funeral home. It wasn't until then that Dr. St. Julian told the family what actually happened. Up to that point, they had encouraged the family to, you know, hey, just have a cremation done. Their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare."

The hospital's parent company (Prime Healthcare Services) released the following statement regarding the incident: "Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the family and all those impacted by this tragic event. Our prayers also remain with the dedicated team of physicians, nurses and staff at Southern Regional Medical Center who cared for this patient. While our 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 cannot provide additional statements. As far as Dr. St Julian, she is not an employee of the hospital. The hospital has taken the appropriate steps in response to this unfortunate situation.

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