In Indiana, a couple is entrenched in a legal dispute with the state’s Department of Child Services (DCS) and a local children’s hospital. This arises from an incident where their infant’s leg fracture was erroneously interpreted as child abuse, leading to the removal of their children.

Grant and Myranda Phillips have initiated a legal action against DCS and Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. They claim their constitutional rights were infringed. The lawsuit details how, on December 26, 2022, Myranda took their two-month-old daughter to Riley’s emergency room after noticing her legs were swollen. The girl had been in the care of other children during family holiday gatherings, the lawsuit notes.

An X-ray revealed the infant had several fractures of varying ages, raising alarm among medical staff who alerted DCS to investigate potential child abuse. According to the lawsuit, DCS case manager Rachel Lucas consulted with two child abuse specialists. One of these doctors mistakenly informed Lucas that the child’s injuries included broken fibulas.

This doctor suggested that the injuries were “highly suspicious of child abuse,” indicating that they could only result from significant blunt force, and implied a child could not have caused them, the lawsuit claims. There was an “immediate concern” for the child’s safety, although the consulting doctor never examined her in person, the lawsuit points out.

However, doctors who examined the child observed she had blue sclera, a condition where the whites of the eyes appear blue, gray, or purple, often linked to brittle bone disease, the lawsuit suggests. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that further testing at the hospital could have revealed that the child was suffering from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that predisposes children to frequent bone fractures.

Instead, DCS and expert doctors allegedly determined the girl was suffering from child abuse and two days after Christmas, took custody of not only the baby but also her older sibling, who was 3 years old at the time. The “preliminary inquiry” filed with the Marion County Superior Court also included the erroneous fact about the broken fibulas when she actually suffered a tibia fracture, according to the suit.

The Phillipses were deprived of their due process rights, the lawsuit stated.

“There was no proper investigation before they took our children,” Grant Phillips told the Indianapolis Star. “And it was an uphill battle in getting them back. We did all the services DCS asked to be unified, but they wouldn’t do it.”

Altogether, their kids were removed from the Phillips home for almost a year. The kids were returned after a fact-finding hearing determined DCS failed to prove the kids were abused or neglected.

“The judge railed against DCS after she dismissed our case,” Grant Phillips told the IndyStar. “She told them they were essentially ‘grasping at straws.’ They admitted during court proceedings that they were not making any efforts to unify our family. There was no accountability for this situation that came completely out of left field for us.”

Grant Phillips said DCS and the hospital need to be held accountable.

“They are literally ripping families apart,” he told local ABC affiliate WRTV.

In a filing responding to the lawsuit, DCS said it did nothing wrong and further denied that the plaintiffs are “entitled to any relief.”

DCS declined to comment on the specific allegation in a statement to the IndyStar.

“Indiana Department of Child Services family case managers are often put in challenging situations and must make difficult life or death decisions about child safety,” the statement said. “We appreciate the complexity of the decisions they must make and support them in keeping Hoosier children safe.”

Riley Hospital has not made a public comment about the lawsuit.