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Suit Claims Hospice Nurse Mistreated Newborn

Theresa Barth’s baby was born unable to see, hear, swallow or cry last October. The doctors told her that he would live a month, maybe.

But Barth was determined that as long as her baby, Michael Farrell, was not in pain, she wanted him to live.

Michael came home from Stony Brook University Hospital last December. Because Michael was not expected to live long, the hospital assigned a hospice nurse to help Barth care for her new son round the clock. But it didn’t take long for Barth, 30, of Mastic Beach, to find that she and the nurse, Donna Newhook, were at odds.

Now, Barth has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against Newhook and the Hospice Care Network of Woodbury in state Supreme Court in Mineola. She is seeking unspecified damages, saying the woman whom she trusted with her child was sabotaging her efforts to save him.

“The hospice took a difficult and tragic situation and made it even worse,” said Barth’s lawyer, Michael Levine of Franklin Square.

Lucy Rosen, a spokeswoman for the Hospice Care Network, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. No working phone number for Newhook could be found.

Michael became brain-damaged when Barth’s placenta peeled away from the wall of her uterus, depriving Michael of oxygen and blood for some time before he was born Oct. 24. When Barth, who lost a lot of blood during the delivery, was finally well enough to see her son, the doctors explained that he would be unable to do anything for himself, Barth said.

Doctors gave Michael a 50 percent chance of living a year and a 15 percent chance of living two, Barth said. But she said they also conceded they couldn’t be sure of Michael’s future, so Barth and Michael’s father, Kevin Farrell, held out hope that with medical advances their child could someday have a meaningful life.

“He’ll never come out normal and I understand that,” said Barth, who gave up her job at Fidelity Investments in Westbury to look after Michael. “But as long as he’s healthy and he enjoys life, we feel that we have to do everything we can for him.”

Barth said she and Farrell made that clear to Newhook. That was why they were so surprised when the nurse didn’t act on their wishes, Barth said.

“She said I wasn’t God,” Barth recalled.

When the nurse went home, Barth sat on the floor, holding her infant son and sobbing.

But the struggle continued. Barth said Newhook poured Michael’s seizure medication into the sink, according to court documents. She canceled his doctor’s appointments, the suit said.

Newhook eventually called the state Office of Children and Family Services and said Barth was mistreating her son, according to court documents. A letter from that agency shows that the investigation found no wrongdoing by Barth or Farrell. After that, Barth said she complained to the hospice network, which sent a new nurse, but she also clashed with the family. Hospice care is overseen by the state Department of Health, but Barth said she was unaware of that.

Another home care nurse is now helping care for Michael. Barth said he now cries and reacts to her when she enters the room.

(c) YellowBrix 2008

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