SUIT ALLEGES HOSPITAL ERROR HURT BABY MOTHER SAYS INFANT FORMULA PUMPED INTO

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993                   TAG: 9302140166
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium
SUIT ALLEGES HOSPITAL ERROR HURT BABY MOTHER SAYS INFANT FORMULA PUMPED INTO
A Chesapeake woman has filed a $1 million lawsuit against a Norfolk hospital, alleging infant formula was mistakenly pumped into her baby's veins.
In the lawsuit filed last week in Circuit Court, Donna Marie Myer says the formula, called Similac, was injected into her premature baby's veins by staff at the Children's Hospital of The King Daughters.
She alleges that the error damaged the infant's brain and caused other physical problems.
The woman's lawyer, James C. Lewis, said Friday that the circulation problems also caused one ear to nearly wither away. "It's just a sad mistake," said Lewis, who represents Myer, 31.
Hospital officials said they would not comment until they have seen a copy of the lawsuit.
The baby, Cortney May Myer, was born May 10, 1992, at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. She was then transferred to Children's Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit with her twin brother, Matthew, who was not harmed.
According to the lawsuit, Cortney had a normal brain scan on June 12. The scans are often given to premature infants to determine whether their brains are developing normally.
On July 1, Cortney began having seizures and high temperatures, the lawsuit says. A nurse noted the reaction and called a physician.
The mistake was found quickly, and actions were take to help the baby, Lewis said. For a while, however, doctors thought the child could die, he said.
A subsequent brain scan showed a "massive, white matter loss" in her brain, the lawsuit says.
Premature infants often have more than one tube in them. Some are hooked directly to the stomach through the navel because many premature infants cannot suck properly through their mouths. Other lines lead into the child's circulatory system.
Somehow, someone confused the line, putting food into a line reserved for medication, Lewis said.
Cortney has been discharged from the hospital, but occasionally returns for care, he said. The lawsuit did not say how many weeks premature the baby was.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB