Mental Health

15-Year-Old Mom Sues Hospital after Nurse 'Cuts Off Baby Daughter's Finger'

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Mar 29, 2012 12:07 AM EDT

A mother is suing a Florida hospital after a nurse allegedly cut off part of her baby daughter's finger while she was removing an IV. 

Veronica Olguin, 15, from Tampa Bay, Florida, is suing the Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center for negligence after half of her 3 months old daughter Selena's pinky had been sliced off with a pair of scissors. 

Olguin said that Selena had stayed at the hospital for two days, and the incident happened on the third day has her daughter was in the process of being released after a three-day stay for a persistent high fever.

She said the nurse had cut her daughter's finger when she was taking off the IV tape and wasn't looking at what she was doing.

"I realized it because there was blood everywhere. It was all over her shirt, it was on my shirt. It was on my face. I held her face close to my chest. She was red, she was screaming," Olguin told Fox.

The nurse allegedly threw the scissors away in a panic before rushing out of the room screaming.

When the doctors came in to the room, they found part of Selena's finger on the floor, but were unable to reattach it because the veins were too little.

Her Attorney Lou Pendas said that the nurse and the hospital were both negligent, and he cannot imagine what their defense will be. 

Pendas said that when he first spoke to attorneys for the hospital they were receptive, but they had stopped responding to questions after a while forcing him to file the lawsuit.

"An unfortunate accident occurred at our hospital while an experienced nurse was removing bandages from the tip of a child's finger," the hospital said in a statement.  "We rushed the child to a hand specialist, but unfortunately the tip of the finger could not be reattached. We deeply regret the harm to the child and want to reiterate our compassion and concern for her and her family.  We reached out right away to the child's family and their attorney, but have not been able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.  We want to reiterate our compassion and concern for the child and her family."

The hospital's attorney Richard Ford told Fox that the nurse is back at the hospital, but he couldn't tell reporters whether she was working with patients or not.  Ford said that the hospital has looked at their policies and procedures and that the accident has been investigated by many people. 

He said that the hospital has tried to resolve the matter with the family, but they could not come to terms.

The 15-year-old mother, speaking at a press conference, said that she still has nightmares about the incident and worries about her child's future. 

"I saw everything. And it's really hard what I went through. And I can't imagine what she went through," she said. "It's really hard that she, she was born so perfect. And they just, they just cut off her finger."

Source: www.medicaldaily.com

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