A Houston-area family claims that a medical error cost their infant child everything. Milagro Torres, a 5-month-old baby, was given the wrong medication after a procedure at Memorial Hermann Health System, according to his family’s attorneys.
Torres was admitted to the downtown location in May, at the age of 22 days, for a procedure on two veins near her heart. The surgery was successful, but the hospital informed her mother Maria that the infant had been given the wrong medicine.
“She was told a terrible mistake, a horrific mistake had been made,” says Attorney Tony Buzbee. “They had given her the wrong IV fluid and that her baby would likely die.”
At this time, the exact medication and dosage have not been disclosed. Photos shown at Friday’s press conference with Buzbee and Attorney Jeff Badders show Milagro when she was admitted in May and what she looks like now – her face and body covered in tubes and a ventilator at Children’s Memorial.
Her doctors predicted she would die from her injuries in the last four months, but her family says she is still fighting.
According to her attorneys, Memorial Hermann has advised the family to completely stop treatment and allow her to die from her injuries.
Doctors informed Maria Torres on Friday morning that the infant had suffered brain damage and that if she was kept alive, she would be wheelchair-bound and require medication for the rest of her life.
The family and attorneys now want the public to help advocate for Milagro.
“Contact the hospital to keep this child alive,” says Badders. “Contact this hospital and talk to other hospitals, so we can get this child transferred out of Hermann to another hospital to provide care where this family can feel like she’s safe.”
“This just hurts me so much, because my sister was perfectly fine,” cries her sister Olga. “I always tell them just to please check the medication. It’s not just one mistake, they’ve made several mistakes.”
Tony Buzbee tells FOX 26 that they attempted to meet with James Polson, Associate Vice President of Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, and the family in a pre-arranged meeting, but they were not allowed inside.
Memorial Hermann released this statement to FOX 26 Friday:
“Federal privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on specific patients or the details of their care, but we would like to emphasize that the delivery of safe, high-quality, and compassionate care for all of our patients is our top priority.”