Couple Sue Hospital, Mother Over Breast-Feeding Mix-Up

A couple whose newborn daughter was breast-fed by another mother at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after an alleged nursing mix-up has sued the woman and the Los Angeles hospital after expressing fears that the infant may have been exposed to a communicable disease.

In their lawsuit, Joyce and Jerry Sausner of Granada Hills claim their daughter, Haley, was taken from the newborn nursery at Cedars-Sinai shortly after her birth on Nov. 1, 1989, and mistakenly given to another woman who was waiting for her baby.

By the time the error was discovered, the unsuspecting mother, Helaine Jaffe of Brentwood, had already nursed the infant, and the Sausners contend they have no way of knowing whether their daughter may have been exposed to an infectious disease, including the AIDS virus.

“The parents merely want an assurance from the mother or the hospital that no communicable disease has been transmitted from the mother to the infant,” said Gary Silverman, an attorney who represents the Sausners.

Silverman said that Jaffe had refused to take any blood tests that would indicate the presence of an infectious disease or to disclose any results to the Sausners. The hospital also balked at divulging information, citing patient confidentiality, Silverman said.

Jaffe, however, told The Times on Thursday that before entering the hospital she had taken a number of tests, including one for the AIDS virus, and was cleared of any medical problems. She also said she had informed the Sausners of her willingness to take another test if the couple would pay for it.

“There was no reason for alarm,” said Jaffe, who added that she was stunned to learn of the lawsuit, which was filed July 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In seeking unspecified damages, the Sausners, who also have a 4-year-old son, accused Cedars-Sinai of medical malpractice, negligence, inflicting emotional distress and breach of contract.

They also sued Jaffe for emotional distress contending that she began breast-feeding the Sausners’ daughter “as though it were her own by negligently failing to ascertain, identify, examine and inspect” the baby brought to her.

Jaffe, 24, said that she was heavily medicated after undergoing a Cesarean section when a nurse brought what she thought was her baby to breast-feed. A few minutes after she began breast-feeding, however, Jaffe said she noticed the wrong name on the bassinet and checked an ankle identification bracelet.

When she realized she had been given the wrong baby, Jaffe said, she and her husband called the nurse who they claimed was fired for the mistake.

“It’s just something you trust in a hospital,” Jaffe said, “that they will get you the correct baby.”

Ronald Wise, a spokesman for Cedars-Sinai, said he had no knowledge of any firing and added that the hospital would have no comment on the lawsuit. Randi and Steve Geffner, Jaffe’s attorneys, said the lawsuit “is not factually correct.”

Although their daughter has shown no signs of illness, the Sausners said in their complaint that they suffer mental anguish.

Several doctors contacted by The Times said the transmission of the AIDS virus through breast-feeding is rare.

Dr. E. Richard Stiehm, head of pediatrics immunology at UCLA’s School of Medicine, said there have been 11 “well-documented cases” where the AIDS virus has been transmitted through breast-feeding.

“But in every instance, the mother has been infected immediately after birth, usually by blood transfusion,” he said. “Unless the mother had recently gotten AIDS, there is very little proof that it would be transmitted through breast-feeding.”

Dr. Arnold Platzker, head of neonatology and pediatric pulmonology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said there are several diseases that could be transmitted by breast-feeding including the herpes virus or the cytomegalovirus known as CMV. He stressed, however, that there is “no definitive word” that breast-feeding could help transmit the AIDS virus.