LAKE GROVE, N.Y. (AP) — A missing decimal point on a prescription for a 6-day-old infant recovering from heart surgery led to a deadly overdose, a lawyer for his parents said Friday.
"Due to the carelessness, recklessness and negligence of the hospital and its staff, a gargantuan dose of potassium chloride extinguished my clients' first-born child," said David Raimondo, an attorney for Ana Celina and Giovanni Vargas.
Raimondo announced plans to sue Stony Brook University Hospital over the death Tuesday of Gianni Vargas. The baby's parents said officials told them the error was due to a prescription dosage reading 35, rather than 3.5.
The hospital's chief executive, Bruce Schroffel, issued a statement apologizing for an error, without specifying what it was.
"In spite of numerous safeguards, an error occurred resulting in the tragic loss of a life," he said. "We are conducting a thorough investigation of this baby's death to determine what steps are necessary to ensure that this will never happen again."