US: Woman in coma for over a decade gives birth at healthcare centre; investigation launched

Phoenix (USA), Jan 7: In what constituted a "deeply disturbing incident", a healthcare centre in the US state of Arizona is investigating an alleged sexual exploitation of a patient who has been in a vegetative state for at least a decade now after she gave birth to a baby, a local television report said.

It was learnt from Phoenix-based KPHO-TV that the patient, who has remained at the city's Hacienda Health Care, gave birth on December 29. She has been immobile for at least 10 years after evading a drowning mishap, the report added. The news station attributed its report to a single unnamed source who had reportedly been told about the tragedy.

Hacienda Health Care spokesperson David Leibowitz said in a statement to People.com last week that the centre was cooperating with the police though stopped short of revealing more about the exact nature of the incident.

"We have recently become aware of a deeply disturbing incident involving the health and safety of a Hacienda resident," Leibowitz said. "While federal and state privacy laws prohibit us from publicly discussing a patient's health or case, Hacienda has and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement and all the relevant regulatory agencies regarding this matter."

The New York Times and NBC News came up with reports that Phoenix Police had started an investigation into the allegations but the centre would not divulge details of the case or the duration of their probe into it.