This scenario and questions are for a group discussion: A five-month pregnant patient was admitted to the
Question:
This scenario and questions are for a group discussion:
A five-month pregnant patient was admitted to the hospital with premature labor contractions. The next day her male fetus was pronounced dead shortly after a spontaneous delivery. The physician charted that the mother had briefly felt a heartbeat for the short interval during which she held her son. Eventually, a birth certificate was issued. The parents at that time requested the funeral home to access the remains from the hospital so that their son could be given a Catholic burial. The remains, however, could not be located and the best response on the part of the hospital was that the re-mains had been dissected and removed from the hospital. The parents sued for emotional harm based on the destruction of their son's remains.
How would you anticipate that the court would rule in such a case? Do the parents have sufficient evidence of emotional harm to allow the court to find in their favor even though there has been no physical damage to them.