Posted on 05/03/2005 5:24:43 PM PDT by tutstar
Sylvia Ponce had already suffered two miscarriages and lost three babies to premature birth when she went into labor on Aug. 30, 1999. Her labor again had come dangerously early, and at 2:10 a.m. on Sept. 1, David Ponce entered the world weighing less than 11/2 lbs. When Sylvia heard him cry, her heart jumped. "I asked, 'Is he alive?'" she recalls. He was, replied the obstetrician attending the delivery. "I was so happy," says Sylvia, "and I was begging that they try to save my son."
But what happened next thrust Sylvia, 44, and her then common-law husband Manuel, 37, into a protracted legal battle--and unending grief. According to the lawsuit the couple subsequently filed, contrary to their wishes Dr. Peter Serrao, the neonatologist responsible for David's care, ordered the injection of 10 micrograms of fentanyl, a narcotic analgesic used to relieve pain (and, according to medical examiner Dr. Robert White, 8-17 times the recommended dose for David's size). Within an hour the baby died in his mother's arms. Says Sylvia: "All my love ended when this happened."
ping, it's not looking good in America
"Euthanasia? Sounds like it to me."
At least it wasn't "starvation with dignity."
Well neither one is a good option but I get your point.
SO9
I agree.
The article at the link says the Dr., his wife, and son died in an unrelated house fire last October.
That's awful. It's murder, alright.
According to the article others have alleged the same thing happening. The hospital won't comment due to ongoing litigation.
more info? why give a preemie anesthetic if there were no defects or injuries causing pain? if the doctors intended to save him he would have been in an incubator not his mother's arms. My heart goes out to this poor woman and if the facts are as stated and there is evidence there needs to be a murder charge not a civil suit.
Lots of tiny babie make it. I don't think we should make the decision to kill them. God brought them here and if he wants them back he'll take them.
Meanwhile a Florida judge has approved an abortion for a 13 yr old who is a ward of the state against the recommendations of DCF. Our Gov is not going to appeal the ruling.
All the info I got is at the link of the google cache. It was also reported in People mag April 25 according to an email I got but I guess that issue isn't available online yet cause it didn't come up in the search at the People site.
Reverence for life.
After what nurse Donna Warman said in her deposition were two unsuccessful attempts by Serrao to intubate the baby, she said the doctor explained to Sylvia that there was nothing further he could do before he ordered the fentanyl shot to ease David's pain as he inevitably died. Serrao said in his own deposition that the large dose was necessary because the drug was injected into the muscle rather than into the bloodstream through a drip. Said Serrao: "I don't think I should prolong death or increase suffering."
Later in the same article.
You are correct, more info is needed. I was a neonatal intensive care nurse for 10 years. Fentanyl was the drug of choice, short of the paralyzing agent Pavulon, to relax a baby so they would not fight the ventilator.
Fighting the vent uses up metabolic and respiratory reserves that a preemie just does not have. Fentanyl reduces the vent settings and need for oxygen, thus reducing barotrauma and other damage done by the vent and the high oxygen flow.
It sounds like a tragic error.....written by a doctor and likely administered by a nurse who also should have known that the dose was too high.
Oops. Looks like I'm wrong yet again.....I have never seen any preemie receive a muscular injection of Fentanyl for any reason...my bad.
The Governor is not going to appeal??? I think Jeb Bush has thrown in the towel and fallen in love with death. If you can't beat them, join them.
Whoa, 1 1/2 lbs? I know some make it, but a lot don't. Former mental hospitals are now full of heroic measures that can't function on their own.
you mean pontius jeb? that's his new handle.
I can't think of ANY situation that a baby who is being deliver prematurely would require narcotic analgesia (although if the child was intubated, they may give it to sedate the child).
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