Apr 12, 2001
Doctor sued in boy's death
PAULA CHRISTIAN of The Tampa Tribune
Donna Mart kept a note with the symptoms of meningitis taped to her refrigerator, just in case one of her two boys ever got sick. She'd put it there after a friend's child died of the disease.
Then her 2-year-old son, Aaron, got sick in 1999 with exactly the same symptoms: high fever, vomiting and neck pain. Meningitis again, Mart thought. But a doctor at MacDill Air Force Base allegedly disagreed, said the boy just had a virus and sent him home to take an over-the-counter pain reliever.
Aaron died that night.
Now Mart and her husband, Henry, are suing MaeDill, the U.S. government and the doctor, Lawrence Hsu, for more than $5 million in damages and pain and suffering.
The Marts and their aftor neys announced the lawsuit at a press conference Wednesday on the steps of the federal courthouse in Tampa.
Donna Mart cried as she described what happened to Aaron in September 1999.
The boy had a fever of 104.8 degrees, was sluggish and had joint pain, a stiff neck, clammy skin and sensitivity to light, she said. So Mart rushed him to the base clinic at MacDill, where her husband is stationed as a senior master sergeant. Mart said she told the doctor at least eight times that Aaron's symptoms looked like those of meningitis.
"I took his word when he said it was a virus," she said. "He said come back in three days."
Aaron's condition worsened that night, she said, and he developed a bruise on his neck - another possible symptom of meningitis. So the Marts took him to Brandon Regional Hospital. But it was already too late, the lawsuit alleges: He died shortly afterward.
According to court documents, an autopsy determined the cause of death was meningococcal meningitis, a bacterial inflammation that swells tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
MacDill spokesman Capt. Darren Berry declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said, "Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family of the deceased child."
MacDill is being represented by the U.S. aftorney's office in Tampa. A spokesman from that office also declined to comment.
A message left for Hsu was not returned.
"We want to make sure this never happens again," said Roy Oppenheim, a lawyer for the family. "This doctor was clearly out of his league. This doctor was clearly improperly trained."
Oppenheim said he tried unsuccessfully to work out a seftlement with the base before filing the lawsuit.
The Marts hope to use their son's death to lobby for changes. They want the military to pay for meningitis vaccines not just for servicemen and women, but also for their families.
They said they also plan to use some of the money they are seeking to establish a meningitis education foundation.
Approximately 3,000 cases of meningococcal meningitis occur each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Ten percent to 13 percent of patients die despite receiving antibiotics early in the illness. Of those who survive, IO percent have severe aftereffects, including mental retardation, hearing loss and loss of limbs.
Staff writer George CMell contributed to this report. Paula Christian covers federal courts and can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or pchristiane@tampiptrib.com.
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