Copyright The Boston Globe
Sherry had survived breast cancer a few years earlier, and her health began failing again in late 2023 and into 2024. On March 30, 2024, Sherry texted her mother that her symptoms were getting worse. Khorsand told her not to worry, that she was weaning off Prozac, and she disputed concerns from Sherry’s psychiatric nurse practitioner. “There is nothing wrong with u and I would not see anyone until u are off the med completely!” Khorsand had texted. Sherry died two weeks later, at age 37. An MRI showed she had a massive brain tumor and that cancer had returned and spread throughout her body. Months after her death, Sherry’s parents, Khorsand and now-retired pediatrician Dr. Siavash Ghoreishi, petitioned Family Court to order Naso to let them visit with Laila. As required by state law, Judge Felix Gill is holding the hearing to determine whether the grandparents’ visits are in the child’s best interest. Naso, who is a narcotics detective in Middletown, filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, accusing his in-laws of Munchausen syndrome by proxy for allegedly prescribing medication and administering “excessive amounts of unjustified prescription medications without appropriate medical documentation.” Naso’s lawyer, Veronica Assalone, told the judge she subpoenaed the records from the Department of Health investigation, which she said released about 400 files on Friday. Khorsand and Ghoreishi let their state medical licenses expire last year. Their lawyer, Michael Ahn, is trying to prevent evidence and testimony about their alleged medical care from being heard in Family Court. Khorsand testified on Monday that she was confused about why Naso wouldn’t allow her and Ghoreishi to see their granddaughter. She testified that she was closer to Laila than Naso was. Last fall, then-Family Court Judge Debra DiSegna decided without holding a hearing to grant supervised visits every other week, with a supervisor paid for by Ghoreishi and Khorsand. Ghoreishi took dozens of videos of Khorsand playing with Laila during the visits. Under cross-examination, Khorsand testified on Tuesday that she “might have mentioned” to the visit supervisor that she was going to give the videos to the judge in this case. The videos are now part of the hearing. Much of Tuesday’s testimony concerned Khorsand’s relationship with Naso, and their arguments in the final months of Sherry’s life. While Khorsand testified on Monday that she’d told some people after her daughter died that Naso was “soulless,” she said Tuesday she thought Naso was a fit and proper parent. “You don’t have a problem with his parenting ability?” Assalone asked her. “You think he’s a good father? A loving father?” “I do,” Khorsand responded. Yet, when Assalone began questioning Khorsand about Sherry’s health, Ahn objected that the questions were turning the grandparents visitation hearing into a medical malpractice trial. Gill overruled him. “I’m trying a grandparents visitation case,” the judge said. “We’re doing it one question at a time.” Under cross-examination, Khorsand testified that it was Sherry who blamed Prozac for her symptoms. Khorsand testified that she was merely backing up her daughter with information about the side effects of stopping the medication. “It was Sherry’s belief, and I was researching to confirm what exactly was going on,” Khorsand said. Khorsand added: “If she asked any advice, it was motherly advice.” She also testified that although Ghoreishi had patient charts of their daughter and prescribed her medication, “my husband was not her physician.” She said that Sherry also had her doctors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a primary care physician. She said she didn’t know if Sherry told them about her father’s care or what he was prescribing for her. The hearing continues Wednesday.
