MIAMI (AP) – A Florida family has sued a hospital for malpractice, saying their baby suffered severe burns because it took too long to remove a coin-sized battery that she swallowed.
Parents Cole Parsons and Courtney Thorne said in a lawsuit Wednesday that Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville should have taken out the lithium battery within two hours, which is recommended by poison control centers. They are also suing Dr. David Smith, who they say downplayed the dangers. The battery was removed about five hours after the parents arrived at the hospital.
Nineteen-month-old Ava-Kate Parsons has undergone 20 surgeries since she swallowed the battery March 10. Her mother was at home at the time but couldn’t get to the baby before she swallowed it.