The family of a patient who became pregnant while in a full-time healthcare facility has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, claiming that the woman had been impregnated in the past.
CNN reports that the family of the 29-year-old woman who gave birth at Hacienda Healthcare late last year is filing a $45 million dollar claim against the Arizona-based facility. According to court documents obtained by the news outlet, the family claims that the patient, who had been at Hacienda since she was a child, was repeatedly raped — and that she had been impregnated in the past.
Further, the family claims that Hacienda Healthcare violated an agreement to have only female caretakers attend to the patient, who is reportedly non-verbal and has very limited mobility.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Nathan Sutherland, a licensed practical nurse at the facility, was arrested in January and charged with sexual assault.
According to court documents obtained by CNN, a medical examination allegedly found that the patient had been “repeatedly violated” and that her delivery of a baby in December 2018 was a “repeat parous event,” meaning that she had been pregnant before. Although the language indicates it is possible that the patient previously carried a baby to term, the lawsuit does not mention a prior birth, according to the report.
“The unspeakable atrocities … occurred as a result of systemic and individual misconduct and mismanagement at the Hacienda (facility) and virtually nonexistent oversight on the part of the state,” the lawsuit reportedly claims.
Sutherland has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the victim is no longer at Hacienda Healthcare.