Blood thinner leads to lawsuit

Published Tuesday June 14, 2011

Blood thinner leads to lawsuit

By Martha Stoddard
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — The parents of a toddler who died after getting an overdose of blood thinner sued the Nebraska Medical Center Tuesday.
Almariah Izabel Duque was not quite two years old when she died March 31, 2010, after allegedly being given 10 times the proper dose of heparin.
The medication is commonly used during and after surgeries and during medical procedures to prevent blood clots.
In Almariah's case, she was prescribed heparin while she was undergoing kidney dialysis.
Her parents, Kenya and Gregorio Duque of Dallas, filed the malpractice case in Douglas County District Court.
They are seeking damages for their daughter's wrongful death, for her suffering while alive and for their emotional distress.
They also are challenging the constitutionality of a Nebraska law that limits medical malpractice awards to $1.75 million.
The law has survived previous challenges. The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld it in 2003 in a case that claimed the law violated the constitutional right to equal protection.
But four judges in the case indicated there may be room to challenge the law for violating the right to due process.
The Duques brought their daughter, who was born with congenital defects, to Nebraska for a transplant.
She received small bowel, liver and pancreas transplants in December 2009.
She was discharged in early February, then readmitted to the hospital on Feb. 13, 2010, after developing an infection.
Dialysis was required after the virus caused her kidneys to shut down.
The suit claims that the heparin infusion pump was programmed incorrectly on March 29 and the error was not discovered for five hours.
Almariah suffered bleeding in her brain and died two days later.
Medical center officials held a press conference the day after Almariah's death to announce they would be taking steps to reduce the risk of future overdoses.
At the time, Gregorio Duque said, “There's no good in being angry. The only thing we want are answers.”
Lincoln attorney Herb Friedman, who filed the case along with Patrick Condron of Chicago, said Duque had not talked with an attorney before making those remarks.
“I'm sure he was emotionally distressed,” Friedman said.
Hospital spokesman Paul Baltes said he could not comment on a pending lawsuit.

Along with the medical center, the suit named RAI Care Centers of Nebraska, which provides dialysis nurses to the medical center.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110614/NEWS97/706159959/-1