WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – A Warren woman whose miscarriage thrust her into the national spotlight has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Warren, Mercy Health and the medical professionals who treated her, alleging that she received improper medical care and that she should have not been criminally charged.
Brittany Watts had been charged with abuse of a corpse following an investigation by the Warren Police Department after she had a miscarriage in September 2023.
Investigators said they found a baby stuck in a toilet at her home on Sept. 22 and that she was trying to plunge the toilet.
A Trumbull County grand jury chose not to indict her on the charge, but the case sparked outrage from abortion rights and women’s rights groups. Watts later spoke to WKBN, saying she wanted to get laws changed so that what happened to her doesn’t happen to others.
According to her lawsuit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Watts alleges that at 21 weeks pregnant, doctors at St. Joseph Warren Hospital told her that she developed a condition called placental abruption, which endangered her pregnancy. The lawsuit contends that Watts received no meaningful treatment or guidance so she returned home.
The next morning, she returned to the hospital after her water broke prematurely, her cervix was dilated and infection set in. Though the lawsuit alleges that Watts was at risk of hemorrhaging, she did not receive treatment for over 10 hours, so she again returned home.
She ended up miscarrying in the toilet of her bathroom, and the lawsuit details that the fetus was under 1 pound — already deceased — and contained in a “mess” of tissue and blood.
“Confronted with this bloody mess, Ms. Watts did what was reasonable: she flushed the toilet. The toilet began overflowing. Ms. Watts did her best to clear the toilet, removing some of the bloody mess with a bucket,” the lawsuit reads.
Watts ended up returning to St. Joseph Warren Hospital again, where a nurse reported that Watts had committed a crime.
The lawsuit alleges that a detective at the Warren Police Department, along with two nurses, worked together to implicate Watts in criminal conduct — alleging that reports and hospital notes contained “blatantly false information.”
The lawsuit contends that the hospital should have either offered Watts a “dilation and evacuation” procedure or informed her where she could receive it elsewhere due to the inevitability of the pregnancy. While doctors concluded labor should be induced immediately, treatment was still delayed, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that one of the nurses suggested to the hospital’s risk management department that Watts had given birth to a viable baby at home and left the baby in a bucket, which began the criminal investigation.
Police then arrived at the hospital to interrogate Watts while she was hooked up to I.V.s and monitoring machines, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Watts suffered medical negligence and emotional distress as a result of the situation.
Included in the lawsuit is an affidavit from Dr. Joy Cooper, who works as a gynecologist in the state of Florida. Cooper writes that she reviewed Watts’ medical records and believes that the doctor who treated her breached the standard of care by failing to provide proper medical treatment to Watts.
Bon Secours Mercy Health issued a statement Tuesday about the lawsuit:
“We remain steadfast in our mission and our commitment to the patients and communities we serve with compassion and integrity. Due to patient privacy, Mercy Health will not discuss these legal proceedings.” BON SECOURS MERCY HEALTH
Watts is represented in the lawsuit by Attorney Jonathan Loevy, from Chicago, Il.
A response has not yet been filed by the defendants. A city spokesperson said the city had no comment on pending litigation.
Nadine Grimley contributed to this report.
Warren woman whose miscarriage put her in spotlight sues city
