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𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 (𝐀𝐋) 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭.
“Our daughter was born premature at 34 weeks + 6 days due to pre-eclampsia and IUGR from my high blood pressure. She came out crying, pink, and healthy — no oxygen needed.
A NICU nurse had promised us 30-40 minutes of immediate skin-to-skin if she didn’t require oxygen. Instead, they ripped her off my chest after just 90 seconds, wrapped her up, gave me a quick kiss, and whisked her to the NICU.
There, Dr. James Morris immediately started listing shots he planned to give her. We respectfully declined, wanting to defer to our pediatrician due to our religious beliefs and desire for a gentle recovery.
Dr. Morris instantly threatened to call DHR (Department of Human Resources), falsely claiming the shots were “mandatory” and “Huntsville Hospital policy.” My husband (a charge nurse at the same hospital for 15 years) knew this was a lie — it’s not hospital policy or Alabama law. He recorded the threats.
Dr. Morris called DHR anyway and falsely reported us for “abusing and neglecting” our newborn by refusing the shots.
Within 30 minutes, DHR showed up, detained my husband for nearly 2 hours, threatened to take custody of our baby, and couldn’t even produce the “mandatory policy” they claimed existed.
Meanwhile, I was stuck in L&D with dangerously high blood pressure (213/117 and climbing), forced to talk to a DHR caseworker instead of recovering or bonding with my daughter.
That same night at 12:07 AM, DHR went to our home and woke my mother-in-law and five of our eight children to “check if they were alive,” traumatizing our 8-year-old daughter so badly she still has night terrors about DHR taking her and her siblings.
Our own pediatrician (Dr. Thotakura) and high-risk OB (Dr. Lewis, Head of OB at Huntsville Hospital Women & Children’s) both confirmed Dr. Morris’s actions were illegal, medically unnecessary, and a violation of our rights. Dr. Morris even bragged to Dr. Thotakura that he routinely uses DHR threats to bully parents into compliance — and that “most give in.”
Multiple NICU and L&D nurses were shocked and outraged, saying they’ve cared for plenty of families who refused shots with zero DHR involvement. Even the NICU social worker told the DHR worker we had every right to refuse.
Because of his false report, we had to get DHR “permission” to take our daughter home and endure a home inspection.
We lost irreplaceable first hours with our baby. Our whole family suffered emotional trauma. I now fear taking prescribed pain meds in case they’re used against me. And our children live with lasting fear of medical staff and the state.
This was a blatant violation of our 14th Amendment rights, medical consent rights under Alabama law, and basic human decency.
Dr. James Morris:
• Lied to DHR to trigger state intervention
• Threatened, intimidated, and humiliated us
• Used his position to force procedures against our will
• Brags about doing it to other families
Parents, protect your rights. Ask questions. Say no when it doesn’t feel right.”
Shared with permission from Cindy Searcy Adams (posted on behalf of the family).
You can read her original post here:
facebook.com/share/p/1DdVzw…
(Photo of Dr. James H. Morris Jr. attached as it appeared in Cindy’s original post)
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