GOVERNOR RILEY SIGNS “BABY DOUGLAS BILL”

Cunningham, Bounds represented Mr. Robert and Mrs. Mary Hernandez in a civil lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama (CV-03-00423) concerning the death of their three-month old baby boy, Douglas Hernandez. Douglas died as a consequence of an improper and inappropriate administration of drugs by his daycare center workers. The case was settled during discovery.

Research revealed that the State of Alabama had no law prohibiting the administration of drugs by daycare workers to children. Cunningham, Bounds assisted the Hernandez family in lobbying the Alabama Legislature to pass an appropriate bill. The “Baby Douglas Bill,” named for Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez’s son, Douglas, now makes it a crime in Alabama for daycare workers to intentionally drug children to change their behavior beyond what is medically prescribed or recklessly administer medication without regard to a child’s health, safety and welfare.