Dorothy Guellec
Damaris
Urena and Marcus Cruz are today January 4th mourning the loss of their 4-month
old baby. It did not have to happen. According to the Daily News the family’s
ordeal began December 15th at about 5 a.m. when the baby awoke with a high fever
complaining and whining.
She
gave the baby ibuprofen, the News article goes on, but when it failed to bring
down the fever or relieve his suffering, she and Cruz took their son to Jacobi
Medical Center. In the Emergency Room at about 6 a.m. Urena said that a doctor
took the baby’s temperature, told her it was 102.5 degrees and gave them
acetaminophen (Tylenol). The doctor told the parents that their son had an ear
infection, gave them a prescription for amoxycillin, an antibiotic and sent them
home. Urena said, according to the News’ article that she pointed to the red
bumps, like insect bites that were showing up on the baby’s belly, legs and
hands. "I told the doctor.’ My son is just getting these,’ I knew it wasn’t
an ear infection."
Urena
said she tried to tell the doctor about her concerns but it all fell on deaf
ears. She was too tired to try and "second guess" the doctor. She made
attempts to tell physician that these bumps that were sprouting all over the
child’s body were not normal for ear infections. This Mother already had two
children and had lived through ear infections in the past.
A
few hours later in the couple’s Bronx apartment the baby still had a fever and
the rash was spreading. By 3 p.m. the couple took their son to a nearby clinic
where his condition was deemed so bad he was given oxygen and rushed back to
Jacobi by ambulance.
The
last time Urena saw her son was at 4 p.m."He was breathing, he was
crying," she said. "He was responding to me." After that, the
family charges, hospital personnel would not allow Urena to see Marcus and made
her sit in the waiting area.
At
about 8 p.m. the mother of another patient told Urena the baby had died. Cruz
said that he later found his son’s small, limp body in a corner of the emergency
room and that a doctor told them to wait in a conference room where someone
would talk with them.
No
one ever came. At midnight, Urena and Cruz finally approached a nurse.
"What are you still doing here?" they quoted her as saying.
"Everybody went home for the night."
The
couple’s lawyer Kenneth Kerner said "It is apparent that what occurred at
Jacobi was inexcusable. A great tragedy occurred here due to the hospital’s and
physician’s failure to render prompt medical treatment to this child."
A
Jacobi spokeswoman said the child received "appropriate medical care…. in
a timely fashion" adding "We. …Stand behind the decisions made by
our medical professionals."
From
my own vantage point 1) no serious bona fide medical decisions were made 2)
there was obviously neglect for these people 3) the hospital was ashamed and
didn’t even have the decency or compassion to confront this couple, comfort
them, and offer grief counseling.
There
is something very wrong at the core of the Medical system. I can’t even say that
if these people had been obviously wealthy or famous that they would have had
different treatment. Mistakes and neglect are rampant, as we know from the
Sidney Zion and Andy Warhol cases. Where is the compassion the duty to "do
no harm"?
American
seems to have 2 Gods at this point in time 1) Money and 2) Celebrity. There are
a few runners up for the short list: youth, a good PR firm behind you, callous
indifference to the suffering of the poor, and a steady gaze fixated at the
bottom line.
Dorothy
Guellec Member Foreign Press Ass’n