QCOSTARICA — The Caja may find itself with a major lawsuit for wrongful death, after the unfortunate death of Isabella del Milagro, the premature baby who was born in Guanacaste.
The lawyer for the family, Kabul Ugalde, explained that family is considering such legal action, that would also expose the CCSS (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social) inefficiencies and mismanagement of care for baby Isabella.
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“In this unfortunate case, the following is possible: a lawsuit for medical negligence, malpractice, acting based on incompetence, omission of duties and, eventually, even a lawsuit for wrongful death, because they had the baby for more than 15 hours without the relevant care,” explained the lawyer.
Ugalde emphasized that, Article 117 of the Penal Code deals with wrongful homicides, with sanctions of up to 10 years in prison and professional suspension of medical personnel for up to five years.
Isabella was born at the CCSS La Anexión hospital in Nicoya, where the family alleges that mother, Angie Herrera, and baby were left unattended for more than 15 hours, with only a blanket for the newborn and the hospital’s administration refusal to move the newborn to the Puntarenas hospital.
The little girl’s case became known after her mother made a video denouncing that since the baby had been born prematurely and did not have fully developed lungs, they were going to let her die at the Nicoya hospital, the hospital alleging that they didn’t have an incubator.
Herrera’s video forced CCSS authorities to rush and attend to the newborn, who was, under the directive from the CCSS president, Marta Esquivel, eventually transferred to the CCSS Monseñor Sanabria hospital in Puntarenas, where she died on Friday.
Dr. Randall Álvarez Juárez, director of the Puntarenas hospital, explained that baby remained in a Neonatology room under strict safety standards and medical care for recovery.
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However, he indicated that, despite all possible efforts to keep her alive, in the last hours after a series of complications, she unfortunately died.
The death has CCSS authorities and the National Women’s Institute (Inamu) filed a criminal complaint that seeks to establish responsibility for the alleged inadequate care at the Nicoya hospital.
The CCSS press office issued the following statement on Friday by CCSS president Marta Esquivel:
the press office of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).
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“Costa Ricans. Today I have to give you unfortunate news. Isabela del Milagro just died a few minutes ago at the Monseñor Sanabria Hospital. Without a doubt, this has to mark a before and after in the form of care for mothers and newborn babies in our institution.
“We have filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday and we are going to make all our efforts to reach the ultimate consequences in this particular case. But it is not going to stop there. We are going to absolutely review all our work schemes so that these situations never happen again.
“From here we send a fraternal hug to Isabela’s entire family, who is going through this very painful moment, and our solidarity with this family that is suffering this loss today,” said the executive president of the institution that administers the country’s public hospitals.”
For his part, the medical manager of the CCSS, Wilburg Díaz, highlighted the little fought for her life “until the last moment.”
On Friday, Isabella del Milagro’s mother, spoke with the media and recounted the hours of desperation that she claims she experienced at the La Anexión Hospital in Liberia, after the little girl was apparently left to die.
In addition, she revealed that she was offered to sedate the newborn so that she would die faster.
“They tell me that here is the baby that I should enjoy with my husband because she is not going to survive, she had not developed lungs, that I should notify them when she dies to prepare the death certificate.
“As the hours go by and she continues trying to breathe, I asked the doctor to send her to the Children’s Hospital (in San José) to get her away from these butchers, but they told me no, because there was a protocol and it was to wait for her to die.
“That was when I decided to make a video because she was fighting to survive, if her lungs were not developed at 36 minutes that baby would have already died, she would not have survived,” said Herrera.
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