BF mismanagement is a form of medical malpractice, but is very hard to
prove.  The "standard of care" against which medical practitioners
are measured is very low.  And there is, apparently, no duty upon medical
practitioners to elevate the level of care, as long as most of their peers are
doing the same bad things.

OTOH, there is a civil claim of "battery" for any unauthorized touching
that causes harm.  However, showing the harm, proving that the
unauthorized touching caused the harm and proving an amount of damage
sufficient to interest a lawyer in taking the case, may be difficult.
Right now, I am working on a possible lawsuit where unauthorized bottles
were given, no useful breastfeeding help was given, and the baby ended up
on formula.  Fortunately, the baby (now 18 mo.) seems OK, but the mom
(1) doesn't want to pay the hospital's copay on the theory that she didn't
get the services she was paying for, and (2) wants to recover the cost of
formula and bottles.  She'd also like to assert a pain and suffering
claim, as she was very distressed by not being able to breastfeed, but
this is much more difficult to prove.  These are theories only, as there
do not seem to be any reported cases of "battery with a bottle."

Liz Baldwin may know more about this.  You reading, Liz?

Rachael Hamlet, lactating lawyer