The parents of an adorable toddler who died after she endured an allergic reaction to fire ant bites are suing the hospital she was admitted to, alleging that staff delayed medication for their daughter.
On October 7, 2024, two-year-old Maya Getahun was rushed to the emergency room by her parents, Bethelhem Getu Hundie and Getahun Birhanu, after she was bitten by ants while she played in her front yard.
Now, the parents of the toddler are suing the hospital, Piedmont Eastside Medical Center, in Snellville, Georgia, a suburb out of Atlanta.
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The lawsuit, filed by attorneys at Bell Law Firm, alleged that staff at the hospital waited more than 20 minutes to hand out epinephrine, a drug that is used to treat anaphylaxis or allergic reactions that come in severe ways.
The suit alleges that the hospital staff knew that Maya was in need of the life-saving drug, yet delayed in administering it, exacerbating her condition.
They are now not only suing due to the staff’s alleged delay but the physician who treated Maya, Dr. Richisa Salazar, is also being accused of being unaware that the hospital didn’t have the necessary equipment to treat the toddler.
The lawsuit claims that once Salazar attempted to intubate Maya, she found out that the hospital didn’t have the tools to do so, leading to the death of the little girl.
‘Maya’s parents looked on helplessly as their daughter slowly died from lack of oxygen,’ the lawsuit alleges.
In the case, Piedmont Healthcare, Inc., Piedmont Eastside Hospital, Inc., Eastside Medical Center LLC, and Dr. Salazar are listed as defendants.
The lawsuit accused the defendants of professional negligence that led to Maya’s ‘preventable’ death.
The nurse who attended to Maya, Roshayla Bracely, was also accused of negligence in the suit for failing to administer the epinephrine.
The lawsuit cites two expert witnesses, Dr. Ann M. Dietrich and Registered Nurse Leslie Boyd.
Lloyd Bell, who is a founding partner at the law firm representing Maya’s parents, explained in a press release that the toddler’s death was ‘100% preventable’ and that the child would still be alive if the staff of the hospital administered epinephrine or intubated her early enough.
Bell also added that Salazar has been named in two other medical malpractice cases filed by the firm.
In November 2023, Salazar was reportedly named in a lawsuit for medical malpractice when providing care to a 53-year-old man named Waymon Storey while she was working at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center in 2021.
Storey was involved in a crash yet did not sustain any life-threatening injuries and arrived at the hospital with chest trauma and difficulty breathing.
According to the lawsuit, he needed assisted ventilation, but Dr. Salazar failed to recognize signs of respiratory failure.
The 53-year-old later died of hypoxic arrest. In 2015, Salazar, who was then known as Dr. Johnson was named in a separate negligence suit after treating a patient at Atlanta Medical Center.
An attorney for Bell Law Firm called her continued employment at Piedmont “concerning,” urging accountability.
“No family should lose a child over a preventable issue,” the attorney said. Maya’s parents are seeking $10,000 in damages.
