Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Judge orders extra break time for breastfeeding medical student

By Felicia Mello, Globe Correspondent

A Harvard medical student and nursing mother won an appeal today in her lawsuit for extra break time to pump breast milk during her doctor-licensing exam. A state appeals court judge ruled that the National Board of Medical Examiners must grant Sophie Currier of Brookline an additional 60 minutes of rest periods on each day of the exam, which Currier must pass to graduate and begin her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Currier sued the board September 6, arguing that it violated her constitutional rights by denying her more than the 45 minutes of rest periods allotted to all test takers. She also accused the board of gender discrimination.

Last week, a state superior court judge denied her claim, saying Currier could still find a way to expel her milk during the test or on regularly scheduled breaks.

But Appeals Court Judge Gary Katzmann overturned that decision. “In order to put the petitioner on equal footing as the male and non-lactating female examinees, she must be provided with sufficient time to pump breast milk and to address the same physiological and other functions to which those examinees are able to attend,” he wrote.

Currier, who has a 4-month-old daughter, originally planned to take the exam this week, but postponed it until October 4 in hopes of winning her appeal. She already has received permission from the board to take the test over two days instead of one, because she has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The board also offered to allow her to bring a breast pump into the exam room and to provide her with a private room in which to express milk during breaks.

Lactating women can experience pain and risk developing infections of their breasts if they don't express milk at least once every three hours, breastfeeding experts say.

Posted by Gideon Gil at 01:43 PM

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