By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com

A Peachtree City couple has filed a lawsuit against Children's Healthcare of Georgia in connection with the death of their 17-month-old son in 1998.

Doctors Amjad Iqbal, a Riverdale physician, and Steven Leard, who practices in McDonough, are individually named in the suit, according to records filed in Fayette County Superior Court.

An autopsy ruled that Jason Conley died of sepsis, according to attorney Don Johnson of Fayetteville, who is representing parents David and Gayla Conley.

The suit alleges that the defendants were repeatedly negligent over a two-day period, from the Conleys' first call to a doctor on a Saturday night in March of 1998 to Jason's death early Monday morning.

The plaintiffs are asking for a judgment equal to Jason's future earnings based on the current average life-span for a male his age, which would be more than 70 years. Also requested are punitive damages, as well as funeral and medical expenses.

Sepsis is caused by a bacterial infection and must be treated quickly, Johnson said. Symptoms include dehydration and fever.

Although the child exhibited all of the classic signs, Johnson said, the case was never treated as an emergency until it was far too late.

“As a result of the negligence of the defendant(s), Jason Conley suffered severe and excruciating pain, both mental and physical, and he died,” the suit states.

Documents filed by the plaintiffs include expert testimony from Dr. Sharon Elizabeth Mace, director of pediatric education/quality assurance at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio.

According to her statement, the Conleys contacted their children's medical call service at about 8:20 p.m. Saturday, March 14, 1998. They reported that their child had a fever and was vomiting 7-10 times per day.

The nurse responding to the call used a triage form for children over 24 months of age, and should have directed the parents to bring the child to an emergency department, Mace said. Instead, they were directed to Iqbal, who prescribed medicine without examining the child.

Iqbal was covering that weekend for the Conleys' regular pediatrician, who was not named in the lawsuit.

The next afternoon, the Conleys called again, and this time they came to the Egleston Mt. Zion immediate care center near Southlake Mall. Jason was then examined by Leard, and at this point was “severely dehydrated and in need of early intervention,” according to Mace.

The staff at the Mt. Zion center failed to recognize that the case was an emergency, used no fluids or antibiotic therapy, and did not order the child transported to the hospital soon enough, Mace said.

A call was placed to the hospital at about 6 p.m., but no dispatch was given until 6:30 and the ambulance did not leave until 7 p.m., according to Mace's statement. The child left the immediate care center at about 8:20 and arrived at Egleston Hospital in Decatur, near Emory University, just after 9 p.m.

At no time during the trip was the case treated as an emergency, according to Mace's statement, which was reiterated by Johnson last week.

The child “arrested” a short while after arriving at the hospital, Johnson said, and died in the early hours of March 16.

Attorneys for Iqbal have responded to the suit, saying in a court filing that he did not contribute to the plaintiff's loss and met the standard of care generally given under the circumstances. Iqbal's attorneys also said the venue and jurisdiction of the suit were improper.

Johnson, who says he takes a special interest in cases involving injuries to children, said that he wants to try the case in Fayette County and will fight any attempts to move it. He hopes to go to trial late this year or early next year, he said.

A six-month discovery period is automatic in this case, and Johnson said he would not be surprised if that time were extended.