[DiamondSmiles]

Needless tragedy of boy, 12, who died just three days after doctors missed raging infection from cut to arm he got playing

A 12-year-old boy died three days after cutting his arm playing basketball because doctors failed to spot deadly bacteria ravaging his body and sent him home with painkillers, his parents claim.

Rory Staunton, from Queens, New York, suffered a soaring temperature, vomiting and excruciating pain in his leg just hours after falling over and grazing his arm at school in April.

Although septic shock is a leading cause of death in hospitals and campaigns were underway to raise awareness of the horrific illness, physicians did not recognise Rory had the condition.

Loss: 12-year-old Rory Staunton died of septic shock after doctors failed to spot the signs of a deadly blood infection and sent him home from hospital with pain killers, (photo below).

Doctors failed to act on strong suggestions that the boy might be fighting for his life, and critical information was not used during decisions about his care, the New York Times reported.

Rory's parents took the boy to their family doctor, Dr Susan Levitzky, (4th picture below), who did not express concern at his high temperature, leg pain, vomiting or blotchy skin, but said it was best to visit a nearby hospital.

At the emergency room at NYU Langone Medical Center, doctors said he was suffering a stomach upset and dehydration. Dr Camille Scribner, (3rd picture below), gave him fluids and sent him home with Tylenol.

Just three days later, he died in intensive care. Hospital records note the cause as severe septic shock brought on by the infection.

Doctors now believe he was gripped by an infection after a bacteria, streptococcus pyogenes, got through his cut.

Gripped: Rory died just three days after scraping his arm in basketball, which is how the bacteria might have got into his blood. His temperature and pulse rate soared and he began going blue.

Missed: The doctors who saw to Rory, who is pictured with his sister Kathleen, (2nd picture below), did not pick up on his serious illness and ignored the family's concerns, his parents said.

The bacteria dwells naturally in the skin, but if it gets into the blood, it can move extremely quickly and the likelihood of stopping it are low. It is often hard to detect in the early stages.

DEADLY ILLNESS: STREPTOCOCCUS PYOGENES AND SEPTIC SHOCK
Rory was killed by septic shock after a bacteria named streptococcus pyogenes got through the cut on his arm and into his blood.

The bacteria lives naturally in the skin and the throat - areas of the body that have good defenses. It is the cause of strep throat and impetigo, but when it gets into the blood or soft tissue and is not treated, it can be deadly.

Rory's body went into sepsis - when the body's blood pressure drops in a response to spreading bacteria. Fast breathing, like Rory's, is an early sign of sepsis.

If it is not caught, it can result in shock, where the vital organs fail to function properly due to poor blood flow.

Sufferers will be admitted to the ICU and given large quantities of fluids and antibiotics intravenously.

Of the severest cases - around 650,000 a year - there is a 25 per cent chance of death. After blood pressure is noted as low, the chance of survival decreases by 7.6 per cent an hour.

Rory's parents said they were never told about blood tests indicating he was producing a startling number of white blood cells, which would suggest the bacterial infection.

'Nobody said anything that night,' his mother told the paper. 'None of you followed up the next day on that kid, and he's at home, dying on the couch?'

His parents added that the doctors in the hospital did not pay attention to notes made by Dr Levitzky, namely Rory's pulse of 140, his temperature of 102 or the skin blotching - a sign of low blood pressure.

'They stated that it was a common flu that was going around,' Mr. Staunton said. 'It would start off as high temperature and throwing up, and would end up as diarrhea.'

As the hours past, Rory's condition worsened, until he was unable to eat or walk or control his temperature. His heart rate soared, as well as the number of times he was breathing each minute.
Two days after the hospital sent him home, he started going blue.

'Around his nose was gone blue,' his father, Ciaran, said. 'Down his body side was gone blue.'

Rory was rushed to the hospital again and was placed on a ventilator. After he was successfully resuscitated twice, doctors were unable to save him the third time.

The family now wants answers from NYU Langone, and released their son's medical records to the New York times as 'Rory would want no other child to go through what he went through'.

'Failure': The family said their family doctor Susan Levitzky, dismissed their concerns, and said ER doctor, Camille L Scribner, sent the boy home without realizing the seriousness of his situation

Devastating: Rory was sent home from NYU Langone Medical Center, (last photo below), and died two days later.

On their website, rorystaunton.com, the family wrote: 'NYU Emergency Room sent a very ill child home. No discussion of vital statistics took place with the Staunton family.

'It was this lack of care and communication which resulted in Rory’s death and what we and our daughter Kathleen will live with every day of our lives. We have been handed a life sentence.'

The hospital, situated in Manhattan's Midtown district, would not discuss Rory's care with the Times.

Rory's family said he hoped to become a pilot and had already enjoyed flying lessons. He was excelling at his private school in Jackson Heights, where he was elected to the student council.

He was also gripped by politics and history and had strong views on North Korea; after he died his parents found a note on his computer to the Swedish ambassador to North Korea.

Read more:
New York Times -- In Rory Staunton's Fight for His Life, Signs That Went Unheeded

Rory Staunton - Official Website: Toxic Shock Syndrome Awareness and Education


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz20SuHjB00

[Brometheus]

i hate university hospitals.. bunch of noobs playing doctor. my sister got in an accident a few months ago.. they put her leg brace on backwards.

[DiamondSmiles]

Idiots!

[Spiffyfable]

Well it is sad but I'm sure the mistake wasn't intentional.

[luciddrmr]

I was misdiagnosed with the flu. I had abscess strep. Almost killed me. I don't trust fucking doctors. I hate hearing these stories they're sad and unnecessary.

[Flaka]

poor kid

[Weatherly]

Sucks but often symptoms of infections are similar to one another. We forget that doctors make mistakes too. However not taking the family's concern seriously seems negligent to me. Always contact a patient advocate when you don't feel you are being listened to! Im short this kid suffered like that.

[kellyhound]

1 out of 3 persons ending up in the hospital encounters a medical mistake.
The number of deadly mistakes in hospitals are very high also.

[DiamondSmiles]

Thank goodness I've only been in once for pneumonia. The food was decent and all of my nurses and doctors were very thorough. I was checked from head to toe for clots.

[Oswald2001]

There is every possibility that the people involved made the right and correct decisions based on proper medical protocol.

The fact is that medical practices are never going to be 100% in terms of diagnosis or treatment.

There is not unlimited money available for the millions and millions and millions of medical situations that arise every years around the world.

Even if there was an endless supply of money, medical knowledge, equipment, drugs and techniques only go just so far.

We still can't cure the Common Cold, Herpes, Cancer, etc.

And although today's medicine has advanced an incredible amount over the last 50, 100, 500 years, mankind still has a very very long way to go in terms of medical treatment.