Two years ago, Kylie Danielle Truax, a 14-year-old teenager fell ill in Daytona Beach. She complained of feeling weak and having pain in her arms and shoulders. Her father took her to Florida Hospital Memorial Hospital Centre where Dr. Lana A. Elder admitted her to an emergency room. Unfortunately, Kylie passed away four hours later. Stacy Truax, Kylie’s mother, sued Dr. Elder and Florida Hospital for malpractice.
What transpired before Kylie’s Demise?
Shortly after admission, Kylie developed severe anxiety which affected her breathing. Her heart rate rose dramatically. Dr. Elder didn’t recognize any symptoms of heart failure. Instead, she administered intravenous fluids to Kylie which exacerbated the teenager’s breathing complications.
Kim Bouck, Kylie family’s attorney accused Elder of treating the teenager for sepsis. She listed sepsis as a possible sickness in her diagnosis. However, she didn’t include myocarditis.
Case Proceedings
Kim said that hospital tests performed produced unusual results for Kylie’s heart. Nevertheless, Dr. Elder didn’t prescribe the right medication. Kim argued that Elder ought to have known that heart and lungs are highly susceptible to intravenous fluids in such a scenario.
In response, Lindsay Cashio, the medical center’s spokeswoman stated that she had no comment on the litigation. She cited patient privacy statutes and claimed that Dr. Elder was no longer an employee at the Florida Hospital.
However, in a court statement, Larry D. Hall, the hospital’s lawyer denied that Dr. Lana was at fault. He further stated that myocarditis caused Kylie’s death. She developed the health condition several days before she was admitted into the medical facility. He claimed that medical personnel took appropriate actions to save the minor’s life.
The News-Journal send several emails to Dr. Lana concerning the lawsuit in Volusia County Court but she didn’t respond. Her attorney, Howard Citron declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. In another court document, Citron stated that DR. Elder wasn’t at fault, that she adhered to the Florida law on standard healthcare.
Past Accusations
In the recent past, the Michigan Attorney General’s office had questioned Dr. Elder regarding her painkiller subscriptions. The Michigan Board of Medicine’s disciplinary committee placed her on one-year probation on March 14, 2018.
Elder moved to Florida from Michigan in 2009. Between July 2014 and October 2015, she worked as a part-time doctor. Elder attended to patients two twice per month. From September 2014 to November 2015, she administered vast quantities of controlled substances several days in a month. Elder issued 1,744 subscriptions within ten months most of which comprised oxycodone.
Defendants
EmCare was the defendant in the lawsuit. During Kylie’s demise, EmCare offered emergency room staff for the medical center. Cashio said that the firm no longer transacts with Florida hospital.
