Lawsuit Dismissed In Baby's Death

In court papers, the couple had charged that Delaware County and four current and former officials of the county adoption agency, Children and Youth Services, withheld information about the baby's possible neurological abnormalities. Such an action, which was vigorously denied by the defendants, would have violated state adoption law.

Ed Young said yesterday that he was "real angry" about the judge's ruling. The couple's lawyer, Steven H. Rubin, said he would not appeal the federal case. Instead, he said he would pursue the matter in state court, where the Youngs filed a parallel lawsuit in March.

A report from a medical exam done on the baby when it was about a month old said that Jed appeared to be suffering from mild weakness of grip and motor skills on his left side. A second report said neurological tests on the baby showed "probably normal" results, but recommended repeating the tests. The Youngs said they hadn't known about either report until after the baby died.

Had they known of possible problems, they might have taken steps that would have averted the death, the Youngs have maintained in court documents and in interviews.

Reed, however, wrote that experts hired by both sides in the lawsuit, including one commissioned by the Youngs, were uncertain about the cause of Jed's death.