Here is the lateset AP story about the breastfeeding mother who requested time to pump 
while taking her medical licensing exam.


Sep 26th, 2007 | BOSTON -- A Harvard student must be allowed extra break time during 
her nine-hour medical licensing exam so she can pump breast milk to feed her 4-month-
old daughter, a Massachusetts appeals court judge ruled Wednesday.

Sophie Currier, 33, sued after the National Board of Medical Examiners turned down her 
request to take more than the standard 45 minutes in breaks during the exam.

Currier said she risks medical complications if she does not nurse her daughter, Lea, or 
pump breast milk every two to three hours.

A Superior Court judge last week rejected Currier's request to order the board to give her 
an additional 60 minutes of break time. Appeals Court Judge Gary Katzmann overturned 
that ruling, finding that Currier needs the extra break time to put her on "equal footing" 
with the men and non-lactating women who take the exam.

The board had cited a need to be consistent in the amount of break time given and said 
other nursing mothers who have taken the exam found 45 minutes sufficient.

But Katzmann said that amount of break time was "insufficient" for Currier to nurse her 
baby, properly express breast milk, eat, drink and use the restroom over the course of 
the nine-hour exam.

Without extra break time, Currier would have to choose between pumping breast milk 
and ignoring her bodily functions or foregoing pumping and causing herself significant 
pain, the judge said.

"Under either avenue, (Currier) is placed at significant disadvantage in comparison to her 
peers," Katzmann wrote in his 26-page ruling.

Calls to Currier, her lawyer and an attorney for the board were not immediately returned.

Currier already had received special accommodations under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act for dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including 
permission to take the test over two days instead of one.

Currier has finished a joint M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard University while having two 
babies in the past two years. She has been offered a residency in clinical pathology at 
Massachusetts General Hospital beginning in November but cannot accept it unless she 
passes the test. Her goal is a career in medical research.

She took the exam in April when she was 8 1/2 months pregnant, but failed by a few 
points. She had planned to take the test again earlier this week, but put it off after 
Norfolk Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady ruled against her last week.

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]