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WILKES-BARRE — The parents of an 11-month-old boy who died last year sued the doctors and hospitals where he was admitted, alleging they were negligent in failing to treat a bowel condition that led to septic shock and his death.
The child, Gunner John Carl Hayes, died on Sept. 2, 2015, at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. It was the third hospital he had been taken to in two days due to vomiting and an inability to keep down fluids, according to the suit filed Nov. 15 in Luzerne County Court by Rebecca Harowicz and Kevin Hayes Jr., of Wilkes-Barre. They are seeking unspecified damages from Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Drs. Ashok Subramanian, Gary Lawrence, Adnan E. Allen, Trans-Med Ambulance Inc. of Forty Fort and others.
The suit said the child was first taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on Sept. 1 and discharged, causing Harowicz to become upset that her son was sent home “without any real answers as to what was wrong.” She said the emergency room physicians denied her request for more extensive testing with the explanation that what the child has “is just a virus.”
The child was later taken to the emergency room of Geisinger Wyoming Valley and then admitted, according to the suit. An ultra sound showed a section of his bowel had traveled into another section, a condition known as intussusception and hospital staff determined he should be transferred to Geisinger Medical Center for an enema and possible surgery, the suit said.
A Trans-Med ambulance crew took the child to Geisinger Medical Center and during the trip it was noted that he was “agitated and grunting” with a heart rate of 230 beats per minute and breathing rate of 20 respirations per minute, the suit said. As he was being transferred into a hospital bed he become “unresponsive” and had no pulse, prompting hospital staff to begin CPR and perform emergency surgery on his bowel at his bedside, the suit said. The child could not sustain “spontaneous circulation” for more than brief periods, and the lifesaving efforts were discontinued. The child was pronounced dead at 11:40 p.m. on Sept. 2, 2015, the suit said.
Dr. Syed Jaffar Kazmi performed an autopsy, according to the suit, and said in his report that the child was diagnosed and treated for the bowel condition upon admission to Geisinger Medical Center, adding “however he may have [had] it for a few days [and] that caused bowel infarction and [led] to other complications and his death.”
Several of the defendants have notified the court that they want to proceed with a jury trial. The law firm of Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn of Kingston is representing the parents.