Tampa Medical Malpractice Claim – Media Coverage

Family’s suit claims hospital failed to treat boy’s disease.

Pasco Times

By CARY DAVIS

Times Staff Writer

NEW PORT RICHEY — The family of a 5-year-old New Port Richey boy is suing Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point for failing to treat the child for a rare flesh- eating disease that attacked his groin area.

As a result of the hospital’s actions, the boy had to have his testicles amputated and he could have died, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Pasco Circuit Court.

Because of the nature of the boy’s injuries and his age, his name is being withheld by the Times.

The lawsuit gives the following account:

The boy was brought by his mother to the emergency room of the Hudson hospital on Dec. 26, 1998, with a fever, low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and swollen testicles. Doctors examined the boy, reasoned that the symptoms were consistent with a case of chicken pox and sent him home with medication, according to the family’s lawyer, Mike Trentalange of Tampa.

The next day, the boy’s mother brought him back to the emergency room because he was “whimpering in pain,” and his testicles were blue and bleeding, the lawsuit says. Doctors realized the boy had a “life-threatening condition,” but instead of treating him or admitting him, they asked his mother to sign a release authorizing a transfer to All Children’s Hospital, St. Petersburg.

It took an ambulance 80 minutes to cover the 46.6 miles from one hospital to the next, precious time when dealing with necrotizing fasciifis, a rare flesh-eating disease that can kill its victims in a day or two. It’s unclear from the lawsuit whether the doctors at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point knew the boy had the disease when they transferred him.

By the time the boy arrived at All Children’s, his condition had worsened to the point where the• only way to stop the disease from spreading was to amputate his testicles.

“When you’re talking about flesh-eating bacteria, every second counts,” Trentalange said Monday. “But there was no effort to move this kid’s case along, and now he has no testicles.”

Trentalange told the Times he believes the boy wasn’t treated properly or admitted to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, a for-profit hospital, because the child’s family didn’t have insurance.

Bylaw, hospitals in Florida that have emergency rooms are required to make every effort to treat anyone with a severe medical condition, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. If a hospital is not equipped to treat a patient, the staff must arrange an immediate transfer to another facility.

Trentalange said if doctors at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point couldn’t treat the boy, they should have called for a helicopter to take the child to All Children’s.

“If this is a member of the Bush family, a helicopter is called immediately,” Trentalange said.

In addition to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, the lawsuit also names the hospital’s parent company, HCA Health Systems of Florida. The family is seeking a jury trial and at least $15,000 in damages.

A spokeswoman for Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point declined to comment on the case.

— Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County.
He can be reached in west Pasco at 869.4236
or (800) 333-7506, ext. 6236.
His e-mail address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .