Parents in Florida recently filed a lawsuit and a trial is ensuing after their premature baby died of a broken neck while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). According to a lawsuit filed by the family, the hospital staff are accused of breaking the baby’s neck leading to her eventual death. The lawsuit further alleges that the staff tried to cover up the incident.
The legal action taken by the family, Gianna Lopera and Jahmiah Peets, claims that there was no trauma that occurred during birth. “This type of spinal cord injury could not occur without the use of excessive force when handling a newborn,” the lawsuit read. “There is no note in the medical record documenting the excessive-force event which caused this traumatic injury, and no indication in the medical record that an investigation was performed.”
Lopera explained the heartbreaking nature of losing their child so early. “We never celebrated a single milestone. We only held her four times. It should never have been that way,” she said. Their daughter Jahxy Peets was born prematurely at 24 weeks in June 2022 at the Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Peets added, “She was small, she was only 1 pound 1.8 ounces, but she was a fighter.”
The family is represented by Nicole Kruegel argued that Orlando Health admitted fault for the death of the newborn. Kruegel’s firm, Rafferty Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa stated, “Jahxy’s parents are rejecting the admission, choosing instead to fight for justice.” The firm added, “While Orlando Health acknowledges their negligence, they refuse to disclose who killed Jahxy Peets.”
“As far as the parents know, this person who did this could have done it intentionally, or if they did it accidentally, they did it because they don’t know what they’re doing, and they’re still in that NICU handling babies as far as we know,” Kruegel stated. “The thing that really upsets me about this case is the hospital admitting liability and trying to push this case to arbitration. They’re acknowledging the terrible harm they’ve caused, but only for financial purposes to limit their exposure.”
“Somebody in the NICU broke her neck, and they didn’t tell anybody,” Kruegel said. “The type of injury that Jazzy suffered is a mandatory reportable injury to the Department of Children and Families, to the police; every single healthcare provider has a duty to report this,” the lawyer representing the family further stated about the incident.
The family noted that they are apprehensive to try and have children moving forward. “Now we’re scared to even get pregnant because — now [we] don’t know if [our] next baby is going to make it,” Lopera explained at a press conference. “[We] don’t know if the next hospital is going to make the same mistake with my second baby.”
Orlando Health responded to the incident in a statement, “We will not address specific medical cases publicly but will share that the delivery of care to extremely premature babies is complex and emotional work for parents, doctors, and nurses. We offer our deepest sympathies to this family, and to any family who suffers the loss of a child, but also believe those who provide care in this environment should be judged on facts, not speculation. We look forward to discussing the facts of this case in the appropriate forum.”
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