In Raleigh, N.C., Robyn Jones says she was brought the wrong baby to breast-feed and proceeded to nurse it for 30 (her version) or 5 (the hospital’s version) minutes. And what, ma’am, are the damages? Well, her lawyer says that the resulting devastating emotional distress not only has poisoned Jones’s relationship with her husband but has led her to neglect her own baby: “Without a normal mother-daughter relationship, Jones’ now 2-year-old daughter has become developmentally disabled, the lawsuit said.” Now there’s damages for you! In addition, Jones’s lawyer says his client has suffered from fear of having picked up some sort of bug in her brief encounter with the other woman’s infant. A hospital spokeswoman says all such tests came out negative, but that just sounds to us as if the hospital is setting itself up for an invasion-of-privacy claim next. (“Woman sues hospital for bringing wrong baby for feeding”, AP/Charlotte Observer, Jun. 25).

Filed under: emotional distress, hospitals, medical