Family of dead boy awarded $1 million

By Arthur C. Gorlick
PI Reporter

A jury has awarded a $1 million judgment to the family of a 5-day-old boy who died at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Seattle after the infant was given a caustic medicine at 150 times the prescribed dose.

It was believed to be among the largest awards for medical malpractice involving an infant that young in the Puget Sound area.

The jury of seven men and five women returned the award earlier this week in the courtroom of King County Superior Court Judge Carol Schapira.

"The feeling of the family is that Children's Hospital is still one of the finest institutions of its type," said attorney Todd Whitney Gardner, who represented the child's father and mother, Chris and Roseann, in the case.

"This doesn't mean that it is a bad hospital or there are bad doctors or nurses there. It means that bad things can happen at good hospitals. They are just human, and they made a mistake in this case."

The child, Max, was born nine weeks premature on Jan. 17, 1993, in Everett General Hospital but was transferred the same day to Children's.

At Children's, Max was diagnosed with neonatal Grave's syndrome, a thyroid disorder.

It is a rare condition in newborns that can affect the metabolic system and increase the risk for developmental disabilities, a Children's spokeswoman said. It is caused by a toxic goiter in the mother and causes secretions of thyroid hormones, she said.

A concentrated potassium iodide solution was prescribed, but an excessive dose estimated during the court hearing at 150 times the .02 milliliter amount prescribed was given, Gardner said. The child died Jan. 22, 1993.

"We are deeply sorry for the family in the tragic loss of their son," Children's said. "Their grief and pain can't be minimized. As an institution, we are deeply saddened about their loss . . . Considering the thousands of very sick children we successfully treat each year, this loss has been felt very deeply at Children's."

Officials at Children's told the family immediately that a medication error had occurred and took responsibility; Gardner said.

"The result of the overdose was, in effect, that a 5-day-old baby was internally burned to death."

The individual who made the error was not identified during the five-day hearing.

"We didn't have any desire to put anyone through any personal hell greater than what they already were experiencing," Gardner said. "It was just an incident that shouldn't have happened."

Gardner filed the suit Jan. 31, 1994, seeking unspecified damages for the pain and suffering for the family.

Chris is a manager at The Boeing Co. and Roseann is a homemaker, Gardner said. They have a daughter, 4 and a son born in May.