Rady Children's Hospital settled a civil suit in which the mother of a transgender boy alleged staff members violated federal discrimination laws by using female pronouns when referring to the patient, who killed himself six weeks later, reports NBC 7 San Diego.
Katherine Prescott brought her son, Kyler, to the San Diego-based hospital's emergency room in April 2015 for suicidal thoughts related to gender dysphoria. Kyler was admitted to the hospital's pediatric psychiatry unit under a 72-hour suicide hold, according to a 2016 article on the lawsuit from The Washington Post.
Ms. Prescott told hospital staff members that Kyler was transgender and used male pronouns. While the hospital noted Kyler's legal name and gender change in his medical record, the suit claimed staff members continued to use female pronouns for Kyler. In one instance, an employee said, "Honey, I would call you a 'he,' but you're such a pretty girl," the suit claimed.
The experience caused Kyler to become more distressed, and he was discharged from the hospital early, according to Ms. Prescott. He killed himself in May 2015.
Ms. Prescott told The Washington Post that she does not blame Rady Children's for her son's death but wants to hold the hospital accountable to "make sure that doesn't happen to any other kids."
She settled the suit for an undisclosed amount.
A spokesperson from Rady Children's Hospital shared the following statement with NBC 7 San Diego:
"While we cannot comment further due to confidentiality requirements, our top priority is providing the highest level of care to our patients and families. We are particularly proud of our expanded Center for Gender Affirming Care where we seek to provide comprehensive, compassionate, up-to-date care and support to transgender and gender diverse youth and their families."
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