A New Mexico family has filed a medical negligence lawsuit against Presbyterian Healthcare Services and Pediatrix Medical Group after their premature infant suffered permanent brain damage at a Presbyterian hospital in Albuquerque.
The complaint, filed on Dec. 5, claims that a neonatal nurse practitioner at Presbyterian’s downtown hospital incorrectly inserted a central catheter into the newborn’s heart and then pushed IV fluid through it, triggering a cardiac arrest and prolonged oxygen loss. According to the suit, that injury was absolutely preventable.
“It’s as simple as verifying the proper placement with an X-ray and acting on that imaging,” says Adrian O. Vega, a partner with Buckingham & Vega, the team representing the child’s family in the lawsuit. “If it’s in the wrong place, you can put it into the right place. It’s very simple to confirm”
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the child by a court-appointed representative and the child’s parents. They allege that the nurse practitioner failed to use basic safety steps when placing an umbilical venous catheter (UVC). Vega says it’s a standard procedure that all nurse practitioners should be able to perform without incident.
“It’s a method that is tried and true for access to the central veins and newborns,” says Vega. “And healthcare providers must receive formal and rigorous training in UVC placement that ensures that the catheterization tip is located where it needs to be.”
The suit alleges that the nurse practitioner failed to use an ultrasound to guide the placement, even though the technology is widely available and recommended to avoid misplacement. And despite X-rays allegedly confirming that the catheter tip had been inserted too far, the nurse practitioner still pushed IV fluid into the catheter. That fluid entered the heart, and the resulting pressure caused a dangerous condition known as pericardial effusion, which can prevent the heart from beating properly.
Moments later, the newborn stopped breathing and needed 25 minutes of emergency resuscitation to get their heart beating again. The complaint says at least 4.5 milliliters of fluid were later withdrawn from the heart, and testing confirmed it matched the IV solution.
The lack of oxygen caused a severe injury, allegedly leaving the child with lifelong neurological impairment. The suit claims that the baby’s injuries “are of a kind which do not ordinarily occur in the absence of negligence.”
“We need to ensure that we have well-run, well-operated hospitals with trained providers and policies and procedures in place to ensure that New Mexicans are not catastrophically injured by common procedures like this one,” says Vega.
The incident occurred in September 2019, but Vega says the child will continue to suffer from the injuries for the rest of their life. He says his clients are seeking accountability. “They want to make sure that nothing like this ever happens to another family in New Mexico,” he says.
Presbyterian Health Services declined to comment.
