A two-year-old girl died on an operating table after a hospital allegedly ignored warnings they were not equipped to handle her procedure.
Parents Tom and Truc-Co Jung have launched legal action against John Muir Health hospital in San Francisco after their daughter Ailee's heart stopped suddenly, and tragically died in the operating room.
Two-year old Ailee was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment when she underwent liver resection surgery at John Muir Health in November 2019.
Just a few hours after her parents said goodbye to Ailee as she went under anaesthetic.
However, an investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle found senior staff at John Muir had allegedly ignored warnings that the hospital was not properly equipped to perform liver resection surgery on a child in the weeks before the operation.
John Muir Health told The Independent in a statement that Ailee had been frail due to her chemotherapy treatment, and they had her with “provided extraordinary care”.
Cal Knight, John Muir CEO, said: “Life-saving procedures on extremely ill patients are not always successful.
“This fact is most tragic when the patient is so young.”
And The Independent has attempted to contact the parents, who have two other children.
However, it was revealed in legal documents filed with the Contra Costa County Superior Court, there were questions as to whether the hospital disclosed key details to the family prior to surgery.
The documents allege that John Muir Health had not performed the specialist surgery on a child before, and that the anaesthesiologist involved had only recently finished fellowships in paediatric anaesthesiology.
The legal action alleges concerns were raised by former John Muir medical director Dr Alicia Kalamas that Ailee might die in surgery.
Although, John Muir Health disputed Dr Kalamas’ assessment and Dr Kalamas has taken legal action against the hospital after her contract was not renewed, alleging retaliation for raising possible patient safety concerns.
Tom Jong told the Chronicle : “Had I known that anyone at the hospital had concerns about their ability to do that surgery, there is no chance I would have done it.”
Ailee’s parents explained to Helping Parents Heal website, that her heart stopped suddenly while she was in surgery, and no one could explain what happened.
They said: “We needed answers, so we immediately started studying all about her cancer and everything related to the afterlife.”
However, an investigation into Ailee’s death by California’s Department of Public Health found no state or federal laws had been violated, the Chronicle reported.
