Mother sues CHC, NMI govt for death of her baby

A mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the CNMI government, the Commonwealth Health Care Corp., and other co-defendants for the death of her baby, who died last year from meningitis and infections.

Susan T. Haleyalgiy, through counsel Michael Dotts, is demanding unspecified damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs.

The Department of Public Health, Tinian Health Center, Dr. Priyawathan Wijay, and nine unnamed persons were also named co-defendants.

According to Dotts, the death of the baby, Jackary Jay Taimanao San Nicolas (Jackary) occurred as a result of the failure to immediately diagnose and treat his illness.

According to the complaint, Jackary was born normal at the CHC on Saipan on Feb. 11, 2010. After passing the hearing test, he was brought to Tinian where the family lives.

On March 18, 2010, Jackary developed a high fever. His mother brought him to the Tinian Health Center where a nurse-in-training took his temperature and advised the mother to give him Tylenol. The nurse-in-training administered the first dose. She did not allow Haleyalgiy and the baby to see the doctor.

Later that same day, the family returned to the Tinian Health Center with Jackary because the fever had not subsided. Still no doctor was contacted.

The following day, Jackary was brought to the Tinian Health Center for the third time because his fever had not subsided. This time he was seen by Dr. Wijay, Dotts said, “and amazingly all the doctor did was give Amoxicillin and Tylenol drops.”

On March 20, 2010, Haleyalgiy called and asked the Tinian Health Center staff to give the baby an x-ray to determine his illness as she suspects the child may have meningitis after researching on the Internet. The staff told the mother they could not perform x-rays because the child did not have any injuries. She was told to keep giving the infant Tylenol.

Haleyalgiy allegedly repeated to the staff more than five times her suspicions that Jackary may have meningitis but the THC staff did not consult with a doctor and did not listen to her.

On March 22, 2010, as the baby couldn’t breath and his left eye was twitching, a friend helped the mother see nurse practitioner Arley Long. Long checked the baby and stated that he has to be sent to CHC on Saipan because he has meningitis.

The baby was brought to the intensive care unit of the Saipan CHC where he was given a spinal tap and diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and complications with infection.

On March 25, 2010, the baby stopped breathing so a tube was placed in his throat. He was then referred to the Asian Hospital in the Philippines from March 29, 2010 to June 4, 2010.

The baby lost his sight and hearing and a tube was placed in his stomach because he couldn’t eat. The doctors said there was nothing they could do now but to train Haleyalgiy how to take care of the child.

On Aug. 16, 2011, baby Jackary died.

Dotts asserted that the defendants owed a duty to Jackary to provide medical advice, care, and treatment within the professionally recognized standards of medical care. Had Jackary been diagnosed earlier and treated properly, he would not have suffered serious consequences from his illness, Dotts said.