The parents of a Florida infant have launched a legal battle and a campaign for change, alleging that a hospital's failure to act on a critical newborn test turned their daughter's first months of life into a fight for survival.
A Seemingly Healthy Start Turns Sour
Mattie Beacham was born via caesarean section on 13 December 2022 at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies in Orlando. Discharged three days later with a clean bill of health, her parents, Allison and Michael Beacham, believed they had a healthy baby girl. However, Mattie struggled to gain weight from the outset.
Despite being fed high-calorie formula, her weight remained stuck at around five pounds. Alarmingly, her abdomen began to swell with fluid—a condition known as ascites—while her skin yellowed and her stools turned clay-coloured. The family claims that doctors at Orlando Health repeatedly insisted she simply needed to eat more.
The Critical Diagnosis That Came Too Late
The crisis point came at Mattie's two-month check-up on 13 February 2023. A covering paediatrician, upon examining her, allegedly "turned ghost white" with concern. Mattie was rushed to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where she was finally diagnosed with biliary atresia.
This rare and aggressive liver disease, affecting roughly one in 12,000 US infants, blocks the bile ducts. The subsequent build-up of bile prevents nutrient absorption and poisons the liver. The sole treatment is a Kasai procedure, a surgery most effective if performed before an infant is 30 to 45 days old.
By the time of her diagnosis, Mattie was 63 days old. The surgery was performed two days later but failed. The family's lawsuit, reviewed by the Daily Mail, alleges this failure was a direct result of the delayed diagnosis.
A Medical Ordeal and Lasting Consequences
What followed was a harrowing medical journey. Mattie was transferred to Advent Health, where she spent 186 nights in hospital. Her organs were in complete failure, and she was placed in a medically induced coma, connected to 21 different machines to keep her alive. At one point, doctors gave her a zero percent chance of survival.
In a desperate bid, a nurse engineered a tandem machine combining dialysis and plasmapheresis, which slowly helped her organs recover. This made her eligible for a liver transplant. In early October 2023, at nine months old, she received part of a liver from a deceased donor in a 12-hour operation.
While she survived, now three-year-old Mattie faces severe lifelong complications. These include being immunocompromised, developmental delays, having suffered three strokes, and losing all the fingers on her left hand due to sepsis. She requires abdominal reconstruction surgery and doctors estimate her life expectancy may be reduced by 30 years.
Legal Action and a Campaign for Change
The Beacham family's complaint centres on a direct bilirubin test taken when Mattie was just three days old. The results, showing levels 13 times above the normal range, allegedly contained red-flag warnings for biliary atresia. The lawsuit claims the family was never informed.
Orlando Health has admitted fault under a Florida statute that caps certain malpractice damages. The family is pursuing arbitration with the hospital, while a separate medical malpractice trial against the Pediatrix Medical Group is slated for 2027.
Driven by their experience, the Beachams are championing "Mattie's Law" in Florida. This legislation aims to add the direct bilirubin test to the state's mandatory newborn screening panel, hoping to prevent similar tragedies. A pilot programme including the test is already running in about a dozen US hospitals.
Despite her ordeal, her mother describes Mattie as "the happiest little human I have ever known." The family, who call her "Miracle Mattie," continues to advocate for wider screening so other infants can get the timely, life-saving intervention she was denied.
