DOI: 10.1097/pec.0b013e31815dc2c1

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PMID: 18091601

Issn Print: 0749-5161

Publication Date: 2007/12/01


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Pediatric Emergency Medicine: Legal Briefs

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A baby was born at a Pennsylvania hospital in June 1998 with Down syndrome and Hirschsprung disease.1 The infant had a colostomy and a series of pull-through operations. In September 2000, the mother claimed that his day-care provider called her and said the child "was not himself." He appeared dazed, "banging his head," and he had facial abrasions. He was brought to a local emergency department (ED) and examined by a resident physician. A computed tomography (CT) scan was obtained, and a lumbar puncture (LP) was performed. The child was given antibiotics and admitted to the hospital. The child died the next day. An autopsy showed that the death was due to strangulation and infarction of the small intestine.
The family sued the ED and the medical staff and claimed that a surgeon should have been called to the ED. They claimed that an emergency laparotomy was indicated and would have allowed the child to survive. The ED physician claimed that proper care was given based on the child's presentation, arguing that the parents' primary concern was the possibility of abuse by the day-care provider. The hospital claimed that the parents failed to answer the resident physician's questions about the child's medical history.
A jury found in favor of the hospital and the physicians.
Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Court of Common Pleas, Case No. GD-02-2439.
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