Dorothy Guellec

Damaris

Urena and Marcus Cruz are today January 4th mourning the loss of their 4-month

old baby. It did not have to happen. According to the Daily News the family’s

ordeal began December 15th at about 5 a.m. when the baby awoke with a high fever

complaining and whining.

She

gave the baby ibuprofen, the News article goes on, but when it failed to bring

down the fever or relieve his suffering, she and Cruz took their son to Jacobi

Medical Center. In the Emergency Room at about 6 a.m. Urena said that a doctor

took the baby’s temperature, told her it was 102.5 degrees and gave them

acetaminophen (Tylenol). The doctor told the parents that their son had an ear

infection, gave them a prescription for amoxycillin, an antibiotic and sent them

home. Urena said, according to the News’ article that she pointed to the red

bumps, like insect bites that were showing up on the baby’s belly, legs and

hands. "I told the doctor.’ My son is just getting these,’ I knew it wasn’t

an ear infection."

Urena

said she tried to tell the doctor about her concerns but it all fell on deaf

ears. She was too tired to try and "second guess" the doctor. She made

attempts to tell physician that these bumps that were sprouting all over the

child’s body were not normal for ear infections. This Mother already had two

children and had lived through ear infections in the past.

A

few hours later in the couple’s Bronx apartment the baby still had a fever and

the rash was spreading. By 3 p.m. the couple took their son to a nearby clinic

where his condition was deemed so bad he was given oxygen and rushed back to

Jacobi by ambulance.

The

last time Urena saw her son was at 4 p.m."He was breathing, he was

crying," she said. "He was responding to me." After that, the

family charges, hospital personnel would not allow Urena to see Marcus and made

her sit in the waiting area.

At

about 8 p.m. the mother of another patient told Urena the baby had died. Cruz

said that he later found his son’s small, limp body in a corner of the emergency

room and that a doctor told them to wait in a conference room where someone

would talk with them.

No

one ever came. At midnight, Urena and Cruz finally approached a nurse.

"What are you still doing here?" they quoted her as saying.

"Everybody went home for the night."

The

couple’s lawyer Kenneth Kerner said "It is apparent that what occurred at

Jacobi was inexcusable. A great tragedy occurred here due to the hospital’s and

physician’s failure to render prompt medical treatment to this child."

A

Jacobi spokeswoman said the child received "appropriate medical care…. in

a timely fashion" adding "We. …Stand behind the decisions made by

our medical professionals."

From

my own vantage point 1) no serious bona fide medical decisions were made 2)

there was obviously neglect for these people 3) the hospital was ashamed and

didn’t even have the decency or compassion to confront this couple, comfort

them, and offer grief counseling.

There

is something very wrong at the core of the Medical system. I can’t even say that

if these people had been obviously wealthy or famous that they would have had

different treatment. Mistakes and neglect are rampant, as we know from the

Sidney Zion and Andy Warhol cases. Where is the compassion the duty to "do

no harm"?

American

seems to have 2 Gods at this point in time 1) Money and 2) Celebrity. There are

a few runners up for the short list: youth, a good PR firm behind you, callous

indifference to the suffering of the poor, and a steady gaze fixated at the

bottom line.

Dorothy

Guellec Member Foreign Press Ass’n