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State agency says hospital provided boy with bad care

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published February 10, 2007

Kim Robinstein thinks doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital killed her 10-year-old son.

So she filed a complaint Oct. 25 with the state's Agency for Health Care Administration regarding Terran, who bled to death at the Miami hospital Sept. 24.

Her concerns:

- Because of overcrowding, Terran was moved from the intensive care unit to a regular room that was not equipped for his care.

- Terran, whose disease caused his intestinal tract to malfunction, received a staph infection on the ICU floor that contributed to his death.

- Terran, who had a severe latex allergy, was exposed to powder from latex gloves thrown in a trash bin near his bed after they had been used with other patients. The latex caused Terran to have rashes.

Robinstein's complaint led the AHCA to investigate the 1,498-bed hospital in November.

A letter that the AHCA sent to Robinstein of Port Richey does not say the hospital was responsible for her son's death. But the letter does say the hospital provided him with improper care.

"We identified the facility failed to follow infection control standards of practice as alleged in your complaint ... the facility will be required to submit a plan of correction to the agency for all cited deficiencies," the letter says.

Gerard Kaiser, executive vice president and chief medical officer at Jackson Memorial, said the hospital submitted a plan of correction to the state. Kaiser said the hospital "is in the process of either continuing on working on those things to correct it, or they've been corrected."

Terran's situation mirrors a growing trend of hospital infections across the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2-million Americans acquire infections in hospitals each year, resulting in about 100,000 deaths. About $4.5-billion is spent on medical care for hospital infections each year.

A Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths report says doctors and nurses wash their hands fewer than half of the times they make contact with patients.

As the fight continues for cleaner hospitals, Robinstein watched her medical bills climb to $100,000.

Terran, who had Hirschsprung's disease, spent most of his life in the hospital. He was unable to eat solid foods and eliminated waste through a hole in his abdomen into a bag.

On Sept. 3, Terran had a seven-organ transplant at Jackson Memorial. Two weeks later, his esophagus graft began to fall apart, and he developed a staph infection.

Though they repaired it, doctors told Robinstein that the graft was at the greatest risk to fall apart nine to 14 days later.

Because of overcrowding in the ICU, Terran was taken to a regular room nine days later. He bled to death the next day.

"The worst part about Terran's dying was me watching it," Robinstein said. "It was like a comedy of errors. They were so confused."

Robinstein held a home funeral for her son.

"I have nightmares, and I don't sleep anymore," she said. "It's total anger. Once I got his medical records and other pieces of the story, I realized, 'Oh, my God. They killed him.' "

Camille C. Spencer can be reached in west Pasco at 727 869-6229 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is cspencer@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 10, 2007, 00:49:20]