Staff Reports
Another family is suing Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital after their infant daughter died shortly after being discharged from the hospital.
Tiffany Patides delivered her daughter, Emilia Faith Patides, on July 15, 2015 at Tampa General Hospital. The child was transferred to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital due to congenital defects including a heart problem and hydrocephalus, a condition that causes an excess of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.
The lawsuit argues doctors at the hospital failed to adequately treat the child and didn’t disclose its poor track record with pediatric cardiovascular deaths, information Patides and her then-husband, Peter Patides might have used to seek a second opinion on their daughter’s treatment plan.
All Children’s hospital has been the subject of several lawsuits stemming from an alarming number of pediatric deaths. The spate of deaths prompted a mass exodus of doctors and nurses from the hospital as well as the resignation of its former head, Dr. Jonathan Ellen, as well as other top hospital administrators.
The Patides lawsuit claims Emilia Faith Patides underwent a cardiac catheterization procedure and had a stent placed in her heart. Another stent was placed to relieve the child’s hydrocephalus. Several other procedures followed.
The child’s medical team put in place a plan to perform heart surgery once she gained an adequate amount of weight. Despite reaching that goal, doctors “unilaterally and inexplicitly” opted to forgo the surgery.
The lawsuit alleges the infant experienced episodes of reflux with wheezing and that the trachea was compressed, however the hospital allegedly made no attempt to relieve her compressed airway.
Despite apprehension by her parents, doctors decided to discharge Emilia Faith Patides, but agreed to place the child and her family at the nearby Ronald McDonald House. Two days after her discharge Tiffany Patides took her daughter to the emergency room with labored breathing. Despite signs of respiratory distress, the lawsuit alleges a nurse advised the family that the infant was fine and did not require additional evaluation.
The next morning Tiffany Patides found her daughter not breathing and called emergency responders. After 90-minutes of resuscitation efforts, the infant was pronounced dead, according to the lawsuit.
The family now seeks compensation for their daughter’s wrongful death.
The lawsuit includes language outlining John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital’s troubling record with cardiac patient deaths using language that is almost identical to another lawsuit filed last February against the hospital’s former Heart Institute Co-director Dr. Gary Stapleton.
The family filed the lawsuit on Dec. 26 in Pinellas County court.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital declined to comment on the lawsuit specifically, but offered this statement.
