A couple whose baby died days after delivery says the hospital lost their child's remains.
On July 23, 2020, Alana Ross went into labor at just 26 weeks gestation, after a complicated pregnancy. The soon-to-be mom and her fiancé, Daniel McCarthy, arrived at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Their baby, Everleigh McCarthy, was delivered via cesarean section two days later. But at three months early, she weighed just over 2 lbs.
Everleigh did not survive. Ross and McCarthy held their tiny daughter as she died.
But when the baby's remains were supposed to be picked up from the hospital, a funeral worker told the baby's parents that the hospital was unable to find her body.
"I thought it was some technical error," Ross told WCVB. "Surely she's just somewhere else in the hospital or at the worst, she's at another funeral home by accident, and they would just go and retrieve her."
But that wasn't the case. The baby's body was lost and would remain lost. "It's like she died all over again," the grieving mother told The New York Times.
According to the police report, it was determined that Everleigh "was not placed in the proper area" of the morgue and "was probably mistaken as soiled linens" by a pathologist. Police said that the pathologist placed the linens containing Everleigh's body "in the blue soiled linen bag inside the morgue examination room." It was then disposed of with other soiled linens.
This week, the grieving parents took the matter to court. They sued Brigham and Women's Hospital in Suffolk County Superior Court. The lawsuit includes 14 hospital employees whom they believe are at fault.
Dr. Sunil Eappen, Brigham and Women's Hospital's chief medical officer, told People, "our deepest sympathies and most sincere apologies to the Ross and McCarthy family for their loss and the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding it. 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."
The statement continued, "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," Eappen wrote. "Due to pending litigation, we are unable to comment specifically on this case."
Alana Ross wants justice for her family, but she also wants to ensure the hospital corrects its procedures so that it doesn't ever make the same mistake. She also says there has been a history of complaints about conditions in the morgue. "We don't want anybody else to go through this," she said. "We want them to fix this."
Prior to getting pregnant with Everleigh, Ross suffered multiple miscarriages. The couple is still hoping to have a family.
