Mar 27, 2009 7:37 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: Infant Deaths Linked To Common Disease
Health Officials Will Continue With Its Investigation With Miami Children's Hospital
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
When Michael Malinconico first saw his newborn son, Anthony, he thought he looked just like him.
Seven days later the child was dead.
"That hurt more than anything to see that was my son and to see myself in him and that he was my first born," Malinconico said. "Words can't express the feelings and the thoughts I had for him."
Anthony Malinconico was one of two infants who died within 24 hours of each other at Miami Children's Hospital. Anthony, who was born two months premature and weighed three pounds two ounces, died on March 14.
"I know he was fine, he was living, he was alive, he was kicking and then they said he had some sort of infection," said Michael. "They didn't make it very clear to me about what was going on. They were a little secretive about things and how he passed away."
The next day, on March 15, 21-day-old La'ziea Skinner died in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. La'ziea was born almost four moths early and weighed in at just one pound, five ounces.
"[La'ziea] fought so hard," said Amanda Nalls, whose 17-year-old daughter gave birth to the infant. She said she never had a chance to hold her granddaughter.
"And my daughter didn't get to hold her either until she passed away," she added, wiping away tears.
Both babies were born at the same hospital in Fort Pierce and airlifted, fourteen days apart, to Miami Children's Hospital.
Both children died from infections after being exposed to a common bacterium known as Pseudomonas. During a press conference Friday, the chief medical officer for Miami Children's Hospital -- Deise Granado-Villar -- said the hospital has been working closely with the families.
"We take great pride in making sure our families are informed about every possible issue that might be of concern to them in the care of their child," Granado-Villar said.
But the families told CBS4 News that they were forced to figure out on their own the fact that the deaths were being investigated as suspicious.
"We heard it on the news," Nalls said. "We heard it a couple of days after La'ziea had passed. I'm very upset. They couldn't even take the time to let us know anything, that we had to hear it like that."
Michael Malinconico said he only discovered his son's death was being investigated when a relative sent him a newspaper story about two babies dying at the hospital, and he realized the date the children died coincided with the date his child died.
He said he doesn't understand why the hospital or someone from the county health department didn't alert him.
"That was my son, I think I should have been informed about what was going on," he said.
Late Friday, Miami Children's Hospital issued a statement: "The neonatologists who provided care to the patients that you inquired about from the [neonatal intensive care unit] spoke to the respective families regarding the care of their individual child after they left the hospital."
But the two families said they remain suspicious of the hospital and its investigation.
And although they are bound by common tragedy, and live just a few minutes from one another in Fort Pierce, neither family has met. But each are dealing with their grief in similar ways.
On Sunday, March 22, Amanda Nalls and her family gathered at a small chapel in Fort Pierce. A photo of the service shows Amanda's daughter, Atlanta, who is just 17, standing in front of La'ziea's casket – a casket so small it is easily blocked from view.
"She's confused by all of it," Nalls said of her daughter, Atlanta.
A day earlier, Anthony's family – his father Michael, 26, and his mother Katlyn, 20 – gathered to say goodbye to the infant at the Christ Family Fellowship Church in Fort Pierce.
"I miss him and I wish he was here terribly," Michael, said. "He was just adorable. He was a blessing to me. I was just looking forward to such a hope and a future with him growing up and me being a father – me and Katlyn together with a beautiful family."
Health Department investigators say adequate hand-washing is key in preventing the spread of the bacteria and found that the infection control practices in the NICU were followed.
"So far with this, the complete investigation seems to have been followed to the letter as it should be. The infection control practices at the hospital seem to be excellent and seem to be all up to standard," said Dr. Conte.
The Miami Children's Hospital NICU treats the most fragile and critically ill newborns in the state that require constant care.
After it was reported that two infants died in the NICU, bacterial samples were sent to the State Health Department in Tallahassee for testing
"It's not common to have three cases at once. In abundance of cautions we called the State Health Department to conduct an investigation and we are proactive in seeking help from the Health Department in our investigation," said Dr. Deise Granado-Villar from Miami Children's Hospital.
The Health Department said last week it is backing Miami Children's Hospital calling it "safe and reputable".
The hospital released the following statement after the infant deaths:
"Our highly ranked Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit continues to provide the highest level of care for the children of this community. The Miami-Dade Department of Health visited our facility and expressed that all precautionary measures to ensure patient safety have been observed. We would like to reassure our community that Miami Children's Hospital is committed to the highest standards of quality and safety in the care of our children and their families.''
CBS4's Liv Davalos contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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