A WRONG accusation led to an almost decade-long battle between mother and father after their children were taken from them.
Lorina Bourne and Jason Troy had their children taken away by Texas state authorities following a child protective services investigation following allegations of abuse against their youngest child.
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The parents filed a federal lawsuit against members of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Ascension Health, the private health system that oversees Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin.
The medical center is where, according to the lawsuit, Bourne and Troy’s youngest son, Jason Johnathan Troy, was evaluated in 2015 as having suffered from shaken baby syndrome.
However, the couple claims that the assessment of their son, who was five months old at the time, was carried out inappropriately.
The lawsuit stated that about four months after his birth, Jason had a large head circumference and suffered from frequent vomiting.
Brain imaging was done on the baby and he was investigated for shaken baby syndrome.
There was fluid in his brain that needed surgery to drain.
Two and a half years later, a doctor was hired by the family’s attorney to review Jason’s medical records, discovering that “Jason had a chronic collection of fluid between his brain and the inside of his skull,” according to the lawsuit.
“Fluid builds up due to a childhood medical condition called benign external hydrocephalus. In this condition, there is a buildup of fluid circulating around the surface of the brain.”
Jason’s birth records show that he was “born with a collection of blood between his scalp and skull” that “was due to birth-related trauma,” according to the lawsuit.
Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, the hospital where Jason was born, did not tell Bourne that his son had “suffered a birth injury,” the mother said. ABC news.
She added that she and Troy were unaware of his condition until a lawyer looked up Jason’s birth records.
The lawsuit does not allege medical malpractice, however, it does state that if Dell Children’s Medical Center reviewed Jason’s records, it would have contradicted his diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Bourne told the outlet that if she had known about her son’s injury, she would have been able to fight the child abuse allegations from the beginning.
TAKEN AWAY
After Jason’s surgery, the parents were reported to DFPS for suspected shaking of the baby by Dell Children’s Medical Center and an investigation was immediately launched, according to the lawsuit.
Troy was charged with two felony counts of battery to a child in 2015 and later turned himself in to the Travis County District Attorney’s office.
The charges were later dismissed in 2018, according to court records.
DFPS removed Jason, then five months old, and his older brother, Kainoa, who was four years old at the time, from their parents’ home on July 20, 2015, and were placed in foster care, the lawsuit reads.
“It made me feel horrible. As a parent, you try to do everything you can to take care of your kids. And you take them to doctors to get answers… and they misdiagnosed you,” Bourne told the outlet.
It was so painful and shocking and devastating to have it turned against me and to be unfairly interrogated and investigated, promptly investigated for child abuse.”
Instead of being placed with other family members or relatives, Jason and Kainoa were placed in foster care for 150 days, according to the lawsuit.
“It was so painful not to have them,” Bourne said.
“I had to go to court several times with our lawyers to fight to get them back. And we only got to see them twice a week, for just two hours at the [child protective services] visitation center.
“And it was so painful because every time they had to take them back to an orphanage, they would cry and ask us why we can’t go home.”
The couple reunited with their children on December 21, 2015, just before Jason’s first birthday, however, the charges against Troy were only dismissed about three years later.
Bourne and Troy sold their house to pay legal fees and Troy lost his job, however, he got a new one.
TAKE CARE OF MAIA
The 2023 Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya showed the family’s situation.
The documentary follows a Florida family who went through a similar situation after losing custody of their daughter after being accused of child abuse by hospital staff.
Bourne hopes the lawsuit and documentary will bring attention to unfair family separations and help other families.
“At Dell Children’s Medical Center, our highest priority is the safety and health of children in our community,” Ascension said in a statement to ABC News.
“As healthcare providers in Texas, our doctors, nurses and care teams who have reasonable grounds to believe that a child has been affected by abuse or neglect by anyone must immediately report it to the appropriate authorities, as required by law.
“We have a duty to work with authorities throughout the investigation as they make decisions about what is best for the child.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
