One Woman's Breast Is Another's Nightmare

It’s still early, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the award for best headline of the day should go to the New York Post and “Suit: Another woman’s breast has ruined my life.”

So how, exactly, did the bosom wreak such havoc? Behold the the adventures of the rogue mammary:

A Windsor Terrace mom whose baby was breastfed by another woman in a hospital switch-up wants to head to the highest court in the state after a lower court refused to grant her damages for the emotional pain of knowing that the baby’s first nourishment came from the breast of another woman.

So, yeah, the breast is actually a relatively minor player. The snafu went down in 2008, when Lynda Williams gave birth to daughter Jalyn at Long Island College Hospital. Jalyn was briefly misidentified and given to another woman for her first meal. Williams is suing for “pain and emotional distress” and was upset that, due to patient confidentiality, the hospital refused to share the medical records of the unwitting wet-nurse (although they assured Williams that she has no medical problems.) Said Williams, “I wanted to know who this other mother is but they wouldn’t tell me…I was worried for a very long time that she could have passed a disease to my child.”

The judge has sided with the hospital, on the grounds, basicallty, of no harm no foul. Or, as the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division ruled, “The plaintiffs have failed to allege a cognizable cause of action to recover damages for emotional distress against the hospital.”

Williams says she’s “pissed off,” and so’s her lawyer. “The hospital admitted their error and should be held accountable,” declares Lisa Pashkoff. But what of the breast? And what, more to the point, of the woman who actually nursed a stranger’s baby?