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Laxative Suit Ends in Mixed Verdict

Jackson Memorial Hospital should take some, but not all the responsibility for inappropriately prescribing a pregnant woman a laxative, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

A Miami-Dade jury awarded Janneral Denson and her now 17-year-old son $128,700 in damages related to the 1997 incident. Denson was seven months pregnant when U.S. Customs agents accused her of smuggling drugs following a trip from Jamaica, the Sun Sentinel reports.

Denson was handcuffed to a hospital bed and prescribed a laxative not recommended for pregnant woman. She had no drugs in her system and was not charged. But she did deliver her son prematurely.

The hospital was 30 percent responsible for damages Denson and her son experienced, the Sun Sentinel reports. However, the jury said Denson was 58 percent responsible, and Customs took 12 percent of the blame, the Sun Sentinel reports.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.