Family Sues Hospital After Toddler's Tragic Death Following Alleged Medication Error
A grieving mother from Florida has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a prominent children's hospital, claiming medical staff negligence led to her two-year-old son's death after a critical medication error.
Dominique Page alleges that staff at UF Health Shands Children's Hospital caused her son De'Markus Page's death when a doctor incorrectly prescribed his potassium medication in March 2024.
The Fatal Decimal Point Error
According to legal documents viewed by The Independent, the tragedy began when De'Markus was transferred to the teaching hospital for dangerously low potassium levels. Dr Jiabi Chen intended to prescribe 1.5 mmol of potassium phosphate but instead entered 15 mmol twice daily by deleting a critical decimal point.
The lawsuit states this created an exceedingly high dosage that was administered alongside other potassium treatments the child was already receiving. Despite the hospital's system issuing a Red Flag warning about the excessive dose, pharmacists and supervising clinicians failed to catch the error.
Catastrophic Consequences and Hospital Response
De'Markus received two doses of the incorrect medication, with the final administration occurring at 8:28 p.m. on 3 March 2024. By 9:02 p.m., the toddler suffered hyperkalemic cardiac arrest.
The legal filing further alleges that medical staff did not immediately recognise the cardiac arrest and took more than 20 minutes to successfully intubate him. This extended lack of oxygen caused catastrophic brain and organ damage.
Although medical staff eventually restarted De'Markus's heart, he endured seizures and what the lawsuit describes as a horrific and protracted hospital course in the ICU while on life support. He never recovered and was taken off life support, dying on 18 March 2024.
Family's Anguish and Legal Action
Dominique Page expressed her ongoing trauma, telling local media: It's been extremely difficult since the passing of my son because to this day, I still have not known what happened. When I asked, it was always a vague, 'I do not know. I do not know.' I still have nightmares about what happened.
The family is suing UF Health Shands, the University of Florida, and several medical staff members for at least $50,000 in damages for wrongful death and related claims.
Page's attorney, Jordan Dulcie, characterised the care as grossly negligent, stating the hospital failed the basic standards of medical care. Dulcie added: No parent should have to lose a child like this. What the family has endured is unimaginable and the worst part is that it was entirely preventable.
UF Health has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, citing patient privacy regulations under HIPAA. The hospital stated it cannot release information on patients or possible patients and their treatment without consent.
The lawsuit, filed on 6 November, highlights ongoing concerns about medication safety protocols in healthcare settings and the devastating consequences when systemic safeguards fail.
