1 doc, 3 malpractice suits—the most recent involving a 2 year-old's death
Key Takeaways
Industry Buzz
“The airline industry has a duty to mitigate mistakes by pilots, air traffic controllers, and ground control. So why didn’t the hospital have a pediatric mask? Or the correct sized breathing tubes for a child? Where did the system fail to allow that to occur?” — Lloyd Bell, Founding Partner at Bell Law Firm
A lawsuit filed against Georgia’s Piedmont Eastside Medical Center claims that negligent medical care led to the tragic death of 2-year-old Maya Getahun.
The wrongful death suit, brought by Bell Law Firm and Andersen, Tate & Carr, says that Getahun was rushed to the hospital after suffering an allergic reaction to ant bites.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include Piedmont Healthcare, Piedmont Eastside Hospital, Eastside Medical Center, and emergency room physician Richisa Salazar, MD, a doctor who has now been cited in three malpractice lawsuits brought by Bell Law Firm.
One of these cases alleges that Dr. Salazar committed medical malpractice by failing to properly manage a young woman who was experiencing a stroke, and now lives with permanent disabilities; the other is a wrongful death suit, which alleges that Dr. Salazar failed to secure the airway of a patient.[][]
Life-saving gear missing
Despite exhibiting clear signs of respiratory distress, the suit claims that hospital staff failed to administer life-saving epinephrine for over 20 minutes. The lawsuit also claims that doctors were unable to find appropriately sized pediatric tools to use to intubate the patient—two allegedly fatal errors.
“We know that all humans make mistakes, including clinicians, so hospitals have a responsibility to anticipate those mistakes and develop systems to mitigate the harm,” says Lloyd Bell, Founding Partner at Bell Law Firm.
“If hospitals accept pediatric patients, the standard of care requires hospitals have pediatric intubation equipment to manage airways,” Bell says. “So why didn’t the hospital have a pediatric mask? Or the correct sized breathing tubes for a child? Where did the system fail to allow that to occur? These questions, and more, are at the heart of this lawsuit.”
The US is failing our pediatric patients
Keeping pediatric equipment stocked and available is a key component in "pediatric readiness," which refers to how well equipped an emergency department is to care for a child.
Twenty years ago—in 2006—reports by the National Academy of Medicine noted ongoing deficiencies in pediatric readiness across the US.[] Improvements have been made since then, but concerningly, many hospitals in the US still fail to meet standards for pediatric readiness.
According to a 2023 report by Wall Street Journal, only 14% of US EDs were deemed “pediatric ready.”[] Researchers have also found persistent variability in pediatric readiness across different EDs.[]
“Patient safety starts with hospital corporations [that] are responsible for developing, teaching, and enforcing patient safety policies and protocol,” Bell says. “Doctors and other clinicians practicing in the hospital system must know the policies and follow them, absent extraordinary circumstances.”
Read Next: 'Medical' clinic employees charged after 5 year old dies in hyperbaric oxygen tank explosion