Posted on 02/26/2012 8:50:05 AM PST by smoothsailing
Tim Blight
February 26, 2012
Douglas Kennedy, Fox News correspondent and son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, has been charged with assault after a 7 January incident in a New York hospital.
2 nurses at the Mt Kisco hospital alleged that Kennedy became violent after they tried to prevent him from taking his newborn son Bo outside of the ward. Kennedy says he wanted to "get some fresh air" and had already received permission from other nurses on duty, Reuters reports.
The confrontation began after nurses issued a "code pink", an alert that someone is attempting to abduct a baby. The incident was partially caught on surveillance camera; although obscured by a doorway, nurse Cari Luciano can be seen falling to the ground.
Luciano stated that Kennedy "raised his right foot and with tremendous force kicked [her] in the pelvis area". Another nurse, Anna Lane, accused the New York-based journalist of twisting her arm, although this appears off screen on the surveillance video.
Kennedy has been charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Kennedy and his wife have labeled accusations "absurd" in an interview with NBC New York. His lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, called the altercation the result of "aggressive and grossly inappropriate behavior by two nurses".
"Whatever Douglas did came about only because the nurse was lunging to grab his child from his arms. What Douglas did was simply to protect his baby," he added.
A date for the hearing has not yet been announced.
Why? Kidnapping! (Not only by strangers but disgruntled fathers and family.)
About 7 years ago a woman wearing scrubs walked into a Salt Lake City, Utah, hospital, and took a baby from a bassinet. She told the mom that she was taking the baby for medical tests. Instead, she walked right out of the hospital with the newborn. Thankfully the woman was somewhat mentally ill, and was found with the infant wandering around in a nearby supermarket.
When I went to visit my daughter, it was like breaking into and out of Ft. Knox! And....When my grandchildren were discharged they were required to leave with their mother, in a wheelchair, accompanied by a nurse, and name bands on both my daughter and her infant were carefully checked by hospital security stationed at the entrance to the maternity unit.
I would bet my entire 401 K that taking a newborn out for a stroll outside is not part of the kidnapping prevention protocol of this hospital.
I gotta agree with you Ernie, I’m no fan of the Kennedys but you are absolutely right in this instance.
I support Kennedy on this one: who the heck is some nurse to prevent a father from taking his baby? Under what legal authority did the nurse have to impede the father?
Please read post #21.
What would be your reaction to the hospital staff if one of your children were kidnapped from the hospital?
Again please read post #21. It has happened.
“But that’s just me.”
Good to know. If you can’t think of anyway to have handled that better, this is good to know. Cradle the baby in your arms and turn your back, for instance? And who the hell said she was lunging at him? HIM? A Kennedy wouldn’t lie, I know but c’mon....
Please read post #21.
What would be your reaction if your newborn were kidnapped from the hospital? It can and has happened.
If a parent wishes to be discharged ( with her infant) there is a rational, legal, and completely non-confrontational way to go about doing that.
How would they know it's yours and not somebody else's? Babies have been stolen before.......In fact, I find it very unusual that this guy would want to remove his three day old baby from the hospital and take it outside for a "bit of fresh air".....But I suppose that happens all the time, right?
This has been plastered all over the internet for days and is patent BS. If his name was “Smith” or “Jones” instead of Kennedy, nobody would have heard a word about it. Muck-raking, yellow “journalism” (and I use the term losely) at it’s worst.
Oh, boy! Another thread supporting the diktats of a hospital over the rights of a parent.
“As a catholic, isn’t he supposed to wait til after baptism? Just wondering.”
That would have been normal a hundred years ago to shelter a newborn baby. It really is “best practices” but they let so many visitors into the hospital maternity wards now. I’ve seen newborns at the mall, at restaurants etc and no one indicates anything is wrong to the parents.
“As a catholic, isn’t he supposed to wait til after baptism? Just wondering.”
That would have been normal a hundred years ago to shelter a newborn baby. It really is “best practices” but they let so many visitors into the hospital maternity wards now. I’ve seen newborns at the mall, at restaurants etc and no one indicates anything is wrong to the parents.
Or a blind, hunch-back midget with a club foot. I agree.
Did you read the story, or just the excerpt?
Mr. Kennedy had already received permission from the hospital to take the child outside. He advised the “nurses” in question of said permissions but they still lunged at him.
Besides that, the only way he could have gotten access to his son is if somebody in the hospital had given him access. Ever seen a maternity ward? Those places are locked down like a prison. The only way you can get access to your child is if they give it to you. So both of those nurses knew he was the child’s father.
The scenario you paint is total B.S.
There is more to this story than we are being told, but I’m on Mr. Kennedy’s side on this.
Just because the hospital may have a “protocol” on the removal of newborns I’m not sure it’s legally binding on the parent unless some state or local statute says these are the required procedures.
Moreover, did the nurse know that Kennedy was the actual father and she was just being a stickler over the “protocol” or did she genuinely not know that the man with the baby was the actual father and was trying to prevent a possible kidnapping? If the former scenario then perhaps she was doing the right thing; if the latter scenario then I don’t support her, and my sympathy is with Kennedy.
Context is everything.
ROTFLMAO!
“If the former scenario then perhaps she was doing the right thing; if the latter scenario then I don’t support her, and my sympathy is with Kennedy.”
I got the above backwards . . . you know what I mean!
If the baby left the ward with the mother, after all IDs were checked, then this would not have been an issue.
The mother has legal priority in a maternity ward, not the father. There is no way a maternity ward can know the relationship status of both parents. The parents could have been separated, and the father was kidnapping the baby.He may also have been drunk, or had alcohol on his breath.
Probably, both parents signed an agreement on this policy when mother was admitted.
I am writing Fox news, and asking them to fire this woman beater. If you look at the video, it is obvious that the nurse did try to prevent him from leaving, but did not touch him. The nurse did fly into the hallway- so the force of the kick was extreme.
A responsible adult would have asked for the nursing supervisor if he was in disagreement with the nurses. Then the problem could have been handled in a adult manner.
But, he is a Kennedy, and they do like to beat up, rape, and kill their women.
What proof did the nurses have that this man was the baby’s father?
The code pink was probably automatically triggered because the babies armband triggered the alarm when the baby was leaving the ward.
I also find it hard to believe that a nurse gave permission against hospital policy.
It does not ring true to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.