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Updated: 11:52 PM Dec 30, 2011
Parents say Riley Children's Hospital left sick infant without treatment
South Bend, Ind. Parents of a South Bend infant born with a slew of medical ailments are crying foul. This after Riley Children's Hospital released the eight-month-old earlier this month.
Posted: 7:06 PM Dec 30, 2011Reporter: Kevin Lewis Email Address: Kevin.Lewis@wndu.com |
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Parents of a South Bend infant born with a slew of medical ailments are crying foul. This after Riley Children's Hospital released the eight-month-old earlier this month.
Jeff and Tanisha Puskar say their fragile daughter Maci was in no shape to leave Riley; a doctor's decision they say they're now paying for.
Maci’s story dates back to May 6, 2011 when she was born at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka. There, the 13 lb. infant entered the world with a closed trachea, intestines outside of her body and irregular blood flow which was slowly killing her heart.
"For the first four months of her life, she never opened here eyes or nothing. She just laid there with all of the machines and everything,” father Jeff Puskar said.
A mountain of medical monitors towered over Maci during six separate surgeries. In seven months, doctors poured $2 million into medical care. Then came Dec. 20, 2011 when Riley showed baby Maci and her parents the front door.
"Yeah I understand they wanted us home and out in time for the holidays, but we got to at least have the right equipment to take care of our kid,” Puskar added.
For the last two weeks, sleepless nights and long days have filled the Puskar family living room, with all eyes on a deteriorating baby Maci.
"We don't have the right bags, we don't have extra tracheas. We have one half-decent one, but it just pulls apart,” Puskar added.
In fact, all of Maci’s breathing tubes are more than a week expired and could stop working at any minute. Despite dozens of desperate phone calls, the Puskar family claims Riley staff has yet to mail out a single replacement part.
On Friday NewsCenter 16 contacted Riley Children's Hospital which refused to comment on baby Maci's situation due to HIPPA laws.
The Puskar family says it’s in touch with a local attorney and is preparing to take legal action against the hospital any day now.
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