Reneizha Morris has filed a lawsuit against UnityPoint Methodist, claiming the hospital pushed her to have an abortion.
Morris was admitted to the hospital in November 2017 for a psychiatric evaluation after having a problem with her medication. During routine testing, she found out that she was pregnant. There was a miscommunication within the hospital, so she was injected with a drug called Methotrexate, which leads to severe birth defects when given to pregnant women.
The lawsuit says that when Morris decided she wanted to keep the baby, the hospital’s legal team got involved.
“Morris’s attorneys have found the hospital’s records suddenly trail off at this point on how and when she supposedly decided to terminate the pregnancy. Following the canceled procedure, the hospital’s risk manager had two phone calls with her family, which have been omitted from the medical record. On December 5, the hospital’s risk manager asked Morris to come to the hospital to pick up $2,000 in cash and a letter stating the money was to be used for ‘a consultation’ at a Chicago-area Planned Parenthood clinic,” the lawsuit said.
Morris said she felt pressured to go through with the abortion, so she had the operation on Dec. 15, 2017.
Morris’s family attorney issued the following statement regarding the case:
“This case has one of the ugliest fact patterns I have ever seen. A perfectly healthy fetus was given a deadly injection based on reckless communication. The hospital administration knew full well they would have been legally responsible for the considerable healthcare costs associated with the baby’s birth injury. The hospital purely had their own interests in mind and failed to take Reneizha’s wishes into consideration.”
Morris seeks more than $50,000 in damages from the lawsuit.
If you would like information about personal injury claims visit Cohen & Cohen to learn more.
