Is it justifiable to put a price tag on life? This question can have different answers all depending on the situation. When it comes to religion, people believe one moves on to a peaceful afterlife. In some cases, people believe reincarnation takes place. The following is a story about a child who lost her life and the parents are suing the hospital for wrongful death.
Who Was Stella Miles?
Stella Miles was a young girl with two parents, Michael Miles and Susanne Michels, who unfortunately died at 13 months of age in September 2016. She had been suffering from a life threatening condition known as hyperamonemia which in simple terms is high ammonia levels.
Stella’s parents decided to sue the doctors in-charge ( Dr. Amanda Kopydlowski, Dr. Vanessa Mondestin and Dr. Cori DeSanto) of Stella’s care in St. Louis Circuit Court House together with Washington university and the hospital for wrongful death.
According to lawyer Burton Greenberg, Stella had a seizure and fell unconscious while at home. Her parents immediately rushed her to a medical facility in Lake Saint Louis. She was later transferred on September 1, 2016 to St. Louis Children’s. Reason for doing this not stated.
The lawsuit alleges two main things. First, failure to treat Stella’ s worsened ammonia condition and secondly, neglecting to do an ammonia retest and genetic consultation before being abruptly discharged. Also, the lawsuit still claims the discharge summary was written three months later to hide the medical details of Stella.
On September 4 when Stella was discharged, she passed on five days later. The ammonia levels found in her was a shocking 1242 micro-gram per deciliter of blood. A child should have 11-35 micro-gram per deciliter of blood in normal circumstances. The two autopsies done later on confirmed that Stella died of high ammonia levels.
Another fact is that Nicole Miles, Stella’s 2-year-old sister, suffered from the similar medical condition and later died three months on December 2016. The parents are hoping to reach a settlement soon for $25000 in damages, although investigation is still ongoing.
This story has two sides of it and an investigation will at least bring out some clear answers. The parents are hoping to win this case before a trial date is set. Will winning such a case lessen their grief on loosing their daughter ? They are the only ones who know the feeling of loosing a child in such circumstances.
