MANSFIELD, Ohio -- The parents of a brain-damaged baby have sued a hospital company and a regional health department, seeking damages for their son's injuries.

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Father Of Brain-Damaged Baby Speaks Out

Aiden Stein, 18-months, has been on life support since March 15, 2004, when doctors said he suffered shaken-baby syndrome. He is blind and deaf and living on a ventilator and feeding tube at Akron Children's Hospital.

His father, Matthew Stein, has been charged with felonious assault and child endangering. He is free on a $50,000 cash and personal recognizance bond. Stein has denied harming his son.

In a civil lawsuit filed Friday in Richland County Common Pleas Court, Stein and the boy's mother, Arica Heimlich, allege that their son was injured because of negligence by MedCentral Health System, which operates Mansfield Hospital, and the Mansfield-Ontario-Richland County Health Department.

SLIDESHOW: Comatose Baby

Stein and Heimlich, both 22, of Mansfield, are seeking more than $25,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress and medical expenses. The lawsuit says the health department and MedCentral provided medical care to Aiden at various times in 2003 and 2004.

"We are unaware of any negligence with this patient," said MedCentral spokeswoman Cindy Jakubick.

"I don't know how the health department is involved with this," said Health Commissioner Stan Saalman.

Heimlich's attorney, Ed Markovich, disputes the shaken-baby diagnosis.

"It's a theory that has outlived its usefulness," he said. "It's without a reputable, scientific foundation."

Stein's attorney, Kenneth Boggs, did not return a call seeking comment.

In a recent court filing, a court-appointed guardian, citing a doctor at Akron Children's Hospital, wrote that the boy is in a persistent vegetative state and likely will die in a few months.

Guardian Ellen Kaforey once sought to take the boy off life support. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in December that the right to withdraw life support remained with the parents until their rights are permanently terminated.

Custody will be turned over to the paternal grandmother, Dawn Mansfield, in June. She has said she intends to keep the boy on life support.