A lawsuit has been filed by the parents of a 2-year-old girl who tragically died in a Georgia hospital following an allergic reaction to ant bites. The parents, Bethelhem Getu Hundie and Getahun Birhanu, allege that the emergency room at Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia, lacked the necessary equipment to intubate their daughter, Maya Getahun, who was in severe distress.
The complaint, filed on April 4 in Gwinnett County, details the events of October 7, 2024. On that day, Maya was brought to the hospital after being bitten by ants and subsequently developing an allergic reaction. The family claims that despite Maya’s evident wheezing and labored breathing, medical staff took over 20 minutes to administer epinephrine, a medication used to treat severe allergic reactions.
The lawsuit further alleges that when the decision was made to intubate Maya, whose blood oxygen saturation was at 97%, the hospital did not have the appropriate size equipment for a child of her age. The doctor attempting the procedure, Dr. Salazar, reportedly discovered this only after administering drugs that paralyzed Maya for the intubation process.
The complaint states that the parents were forced to watch their daughter’s life slip away due to the lack of oxygen. The family argues that it is the ordinary duty of care for any emergency department to stock appropriate equipment, especially for pediatric intubation.
The parents are seeking claims for negligence, wrongful death, and punitive damages in an amount exceeding $10,000 against both the hospital and Dr. Salazar. Their attorney, Lloyd Bell, stated that the medical professionals at the hospital “failed them at every turn.”
Bell further emphasized that the lawsuit aims to hold the hospital accountable and seek justice for Maya and her family. By bringing attention to these tragic events, the family hopes to prompt Piedmont to revise their policies and procedures to prevent such a tragedy from happening to another child.