Distraught Family Holds Rally Outside SUNY Downstate Hospital Following Mysterious Death Of Teen Boy
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A teenager went to a Brooklyn hospital for help, but ended up dying days later.
On Wednesday, there were tears and finger pointing over the medical staff's response, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
Ninth grader Iverson Brice was all smiles earlier this month when he opening up a new iPhone from his sister on his 15th birthday.
"I just took him and his friends out for his birthday and he had so much fun and it's just hard," Regina Mickens said.
But just days later, that joy turned to immeasurable grief when Iverson suddenly died. Mickens, his sister and legal guardian, said his death came after two visits to SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
"I don't want this to happen to somebody else," Mickens said.
Mickens said Iverson went to the emergency room last Thursday complaining of leg pain, trouble breathing and coughing up blood. The teen had asthma, but was otherwise healthy, his sister said. The discharge papers show hospital workers did a urine test and sent him home, diagnosing him with only a muscle strain.
"They told him it's just a dry cough. You'll be fine. Just get a humidifier when you get home," Mickens said.
By Friday, Mickens said, Iverson was worse and went by ambulance back to SUNY Downstate. Mickens said hospital staff revived him four times, but by early the next morning he was gone.
"The hospital told me that he had sepsis. That's how he passed away. But I don't believe that," Mickens said. "I'm asking them constantly. He came here yesterday. How did you not see this?"
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On Wednesday, loved ones rallied outside the hospital, demanding to know exactly what happened.
"It seems they were negligent both in their initial diagnosis, in their discharge, and very likely, and maybe most concerning, lack of care and treatment when he returned on Friday evening," family attorney Eddy Steinberg said.
SUNY Downstate also includes a medical college. Mickens said she's not sure if the doctors who saw her brother were still in training.
"Now it's like I'm by myself. I don't have nobody. That was it," she said.
The Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that it is investigating how Iverson died. The family is now trying to collect donations for his funeral, which is set for April 4.
SUNY Downstate issued the following statement on Wednesday evening: "We extend our condolences to the family on the loss of their loved one. However, we are legally prohibited from responding to questions regarding specifics of any patient, and do not comment on litigation efforts, pending or otherwise."
