Jessica Ross and her boyfriend Treveon Isaiah Taylor have been through a whirlwind of life-changing experiences over the past few months. As Blavity reported, the couple lost their son during birth following a complication of vaginal delivery in which the baby’s shoulder gets caught above the mother’s pubic bone, according to the National Library of Medicine. When the Southern Regional Medical Center’s employees informed them that their baby boy died during delivery, the couple asked to see him but claimed they were denied. This action caused suspicion about the circumstances surrounding their baby’s death.

According to the HuffPost, they were unaware their son died of decapitation because Ross had a C-section after vaginal delivery failed. The funeral home that prepared the baby for the ceremony disclosed the information to the couple on July 13. Due to the deception from the hospital, the couple filed a lawsuit in Clayton County against the medical center and included Dr. Tracey St. Julian, the physician who delivered their son, for “negligently applied excessive traction” and not following the correct medical procedures to ensure their full-term son lived.

After learning the truth, they paid for an independent autopsy, which cost them $2,500. On July 14, the pathologist allegedly filmed multiple videos of the deceased’s autopsy and posted some on his profile per the lawsuit. On September 1, Ross and Taylor filed a complaint against Gates for invasion of privacy and fraud after he reportedly posted videos on his Instagram page, which is now private, of him conducting the autopsy for education purposes. The couple felt violated because the doctor published content about their son to his 11,000 followers without their knowledge and permission.

“After suffering one of the most heartbreaking losses any family could ever endure, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr. had salt poured into their unfathomable emotional wounds when they discovered that video of their baby’s very graphic medical examination had been made public by the very doctor they entrusted to conduct the autopsy,” the couple’s attorneys said in a joint statement.

Following the removal of the first video clip, two more were published a week later that showed the head, brain, body and organs.

“This video showed in graphic and grisly detail a postmortem examination of the decapitated, severed head of Baby Isaiah,” the lawsuit states.

Although the videos were taken down, the doctor, known for posting videos online of his work for public health purposes, denied the allegations in the lawsuit citing he would never post the identity of a client, alive or deceased, reported HuffPost.

HIPAA, a federal law that sets a national standard to protect medical records and other personal health information, is a federal law in place “that sets a national standard” to ensure patients’ privacy when it comes to their media records and other health rights. In addition, social media platforms advise pathologists to stay aligned with medical guidelines when posting images and videos so their name, face and other identifying content isn’t for public consumption.

 

In 2016, the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics issued an article explaining that pathologists have a history of typically not requesting the blessing of patients when it relates to sharing images in a multitude of ways to educate others.

“This is a widely accepted long-standing practice in pathology, and, provided that privacy is protected, the authors find no major ethical problems with this practice,” the article stated.

“This is one of the most egregious and outrageous cases of ‘clout chasing’ we have ever encountered,” the duo’s attorneys said. “Dr. Jackson Gates attempted to exploit our clients’ horrific loss to boost his own social media profile, without permission of the family.”