Lawyers claim incapacitated woman at Hacienda Healthcare may have been pregnant before

PHOENIX (AP) -- Lawyers for an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a Phoenix long-term care facility have filed a $45 million notice of claim against the state.

The precursor to a lawsuit says the woman, who has been in long-term care since age 3 after suffering a near-drowning, allegedly was raped repeatedly before giving birth last December. The notice of claim goes on to say it was likely "a repeat parous event", meaning it's possibly not the first time the victim was pregnant.

She gave birth to a boy at the facility on Dec. 29. Employees said they had no idea she was pregnant, but the claim alleges Hacienda HealthCare workers had more than 80 chances to diagnose the pregnancy.

>>FULL COVERAGE: Hacienda Healthcare Investigation

The claim also said the victim's family requested only female nurses, a request that was ignored even though the family was told that would be the case. A former nurse at Hacienda, identified as Nathan Sutherland, has has been charged with sexually assaulting the woman. Sutherland has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said Wednesday night that it doesn't comment on pending or ongoing litigation.

The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.