No Other Family Should go Through This

Synopsis – Erik was born 11/27/97 (Thanksgiving Day) at Memorial Hospital in Worcester. There were complications. There were medical mistakes, and the parents were not informed of these. The complications may have been as a result of medical mistakes. Erik now lives as a multiply-handicapped child. He is deaf, and afflicted by neurological issues. Due to the Massachusetts statute of repose for medical malpractice, the parents have no recourse. Had the family lived in most any other state, there would be a right to legal action upon discovery of the medical mistakes. The impact of what happened has been financially devastating to the family.  Erik has been seen by doctors who have identified that his bilateral vestibular damage is consistent with gentamicin toxicity.  (gentamicin is the antibiotic given to Erik in the hospital)

Medical Mistakes: Both of Omission and Commission

The mother goes in to labor two months prematurely, and immediately proceeds to Memorial Hospital in Worcester

Omission: No attempts are made to determine the position of the baby in the course of the 8 hours before birth (had this been done, a doctor could have made a decision to perform a caesarian delivery)

Erik is delivered in the incorrect position, becomes stuck, and the delivery deforms his head

Commission: Erik was fed formula against the wishes of the parents

Omission: Formula, in a premature baby can cause a fatal condition, necrotizing enterocolitis, and the parents were not told of this causal relationship

Erik had necrotizing enterocolitis

Erik was treated with gentamicin

Omission: The parents were not warned that gentamicin is an ototoxic drug (can cause deafness if levels are too high)

Omission: The parents were not warned that gentamicin must be monitored before and after each dose to ensure that blood serum levels are not too high.

Omission: For 20 doses, blood serum levels were not monitored.

Omission: The parents were not warned that the infection itself, can induce neurological issues.

Commission & Omission: Erik was then tested for deafness in the hospital, results were that he was deaf, but the equipment was then said to be faulty.

Omission: Jaundice is an issue regarding the function of the liver and kidneys, and an inability of the body to remove wastes. The parents were not told that gentamicin can affect operation of the kidneys.

Erik had what was called "sludge in the kidneys".

Erik was in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at Memorial Hospital for nearly a month

Commission & Omission: Erik was tested for deafness in the hospital at three months of age, results were that he was hearing, but the records are missing.

Omission: For over 7 years, Erik was seen by dozens of doctors at U-Mass Medical Center (and an affiliated pediatrician), the U-Mass Early Intervention Program, and the U-Mass Infant-Toddler Clinic in attempts to discover the cause of his condition and seek remedies. No one mentioned the word “gentamicin” or the risks.  Suggestions are made that he is afflicted with a genetic disorder, glutaric acidemia, and severe developmental maladies

Commission: In looking for answers elsewhere for causes of his condition, Erik endures needless spinal taps and sedations.  To deal with Erik, he has over 50 medical appointments in one year, and yet nothing is mentioned of his treatment with gentamicin.  Suggestions are made that he might be retarded or brain damaged.  Perhaps that is what someone is like when they have no sense of hearing and no sense of balance.  Damn right my insurance paid for it all.

Erik is diagnosed as being profoundly deaf by a doctor at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary (associated with Harvard) in his first appointment at MEEI at age 5, in his first appointment there, in a couple hours of examination 

Later after age 7, another mom at the deaf school sees Erik, notices his unsteady gait, and asks his mom, "Did he have gentamicin?"  Gentamicin kids have a distinctive walk, apparently, due to the neurological and vestibular damage.

Erik is now seem by doctors outside of the U-Mass Memorial Healthcare system.


If this was most any other state, the parents could take legal action, to get Erik the care and therapy he deserves.  There ought to be a law, ERIKS LAWS.  If there are, then Eriks' legacy will be that other kids are protected and given the rights of kids of most any other state.


Erik Now
Erik is deaf, and afflicted with balance problems, motor control issues, and neurological problems.  To work against the deafness, Erik has been provided with a cochlear implant device.  This is basically a radio receiver in his head, with a wire which stimulates the nerves of the cochlea.  He has the "Freedom" processor developed by Cochlear Corporation of Australia, this is the external unit which he wears over his ear and transmits to the implanted device.  He's had his implant several years.  He has had the "Freedom" processor for only a few months, and with the latest tune up (called mappings), he is responding to sound more.  We do have hopes that in addition to responding to sound, he'll be able to respond to language, and also learn to talk.  Yet we do realize that childhood development specialists generally are of the belief that the window for developing this part of the brain is closing, if not closed.  Children who have deafness identified at an early age can be implanted early enough, so that it is virtually impossible to tell that they have any issues with hearing or speech. 

Erik attends The Learning Center for Deaf Children, an hour ride away from home, in Framingham.  This special education program is funded by the town and state programs.  There is a financial reason that the state should pass the bills in question and have them become law, it will save money, over $100K per year!