Family Denied Visitation

A year ago, Janice Langbehn and her partner of 18 years, Lisa Pond, were departing on a family cruise with their three children when the unthinkable happened: Pond, a healthy 39 year-old, suddenly collapsed and was rushed to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital where she was diagnosed with a non-survivable aneurysm. Then matters got worse.

When Langbehn and her family arrived, the hospital refused to take information from her regarding Pond's medical history. The hospital also refused Langbehn and their children visitation for nearly eight hours, telling her that she was in an antigay city and state, and could expect no information or acknowledgment as family. Later, Langbehn was denied Pond's death certificate by the State of Florida and the Dade County Medical Examiner, even though it was crucial for their children's life insurance and Social Security benefits.

Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit against Jackson Memorial Hospital, on behalf of Janice Langbehn and her children. "There is nothing that can make up for what my children and I endured that day," she says. "We only want the hospital to take responsibility for how they treated us and ensure that it doesn't happen to another family."

The case is Langbehn v. Jackson Memorial Hospital.