Lindsay Clancy’s husband filed a wrongful death suit against two of his wife’s healthcare providers, claiming that they over- and improperly medicated her in the months before she’s accused of killing their three children.
Clancy allegedly strangled her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, eight months, during the throes of a postpartum breakdown, then tried to kill herself at their Duxbury home on January 24, 2023. The suicide attempt left Clancy paralyzed. She is currently at Tewksbury State Hospital awaiting her trial.
Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington has said that he doesn’t believe that she should be found criminally responsible for the deaths.
In a suit filed in Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday, Patrick Clancy named Dr. Jennifer Tufts and nurse practitioner Rebecca Jollotta, who both prescribed Lindsay a number of the medications, along with their respective practices, Aster Mental Health Inc. and South Shore Health, as defendants.
“South Shore Health cares deeply about and prioritizes the safety of our patients and their families and always strives to provide excellent care,” the practice said in a statement to the Herald. “Given that this matter is now in litigation, we cannot comment on the specific allegations contained in the lawsuit.”
The Herald also reached out to Tufts, Jollotta, and Aster for comment but has not yet heard back.
By the end of January 2023, Lindsay had been prescribed a series of drugs, including Zoloft, trazodone, Prozac, Ambien, Remeron, Klonopin, and Seroquel.
“The bevy of diverse and powerful medications they misprescribed coupled with their abject failure to appropriately monitor Lindsay resulted in Lindsay’s mental health deteriorating to the point of suicidal ideation and requiring in-patient care,” the suit claimed.
Instead of seeing improvement after the prescription of each medication, the suit describes a downward spiral for Lindsay who initially sought treatment after becoming anxious when Patrick returned to work following the birth of their third child and she was left at home with her three kids.
The lawsuit said that Lindsay was suffering from stress and anxiety that developed into worse symptoms including numbness, insomnia, paranoia, and eventually suicidal ideation.
Clancy’s complaint recounts an alleged pattern of the prescription of a medication, negative side-effects and/or deterioration, then the prescription of more medication.
According to the suit, the practitioners didn’t order blood tests for Lindsay, often met with her virtually when in-person visits would have been more conducive to treatment, and failed to fully comprehend the severity of her deterioration.
“Ultimately, Defendants’ negligent treatment of Lindsay, including their complete failure to recognize and address the radical erosion of her mental health, resulted in tragedy, namely, allegations that Lindsay took the lives of her children,” the suit said.
Clancy is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages in the case.