Mom of Toddler Who Died After Missouri Clinic Visit Awarded $1.8M

The family of a toddler who died just three hours after being misdiagnosed at a Branson, Mo., urgent care clinic is receiving $1.8 million in damages.

Jurors in Taney County recently awarded Kassie Mcatee nearly $3.2 million in damages in the June 2017 death of her 1-year-old son, Kyler George. But a judge reduced the amount because of a Missouri law that puts a fixed hard cap on medical malpractice damages, KOLR reports.

“This is a daily hell that I live, because somebody didn’t take the time to do their job,” Mcatee said.

According to a news release, Kyler was pale and lethargic when Mcatee brought him to the Urgent Care at CoxHealth Hospital Branson. He was diagnosed with an ear infection, sent home and died three hours later.

Kyler previously was brought into a primary care clinic operated by CoxHealth for a prolonged fever, which is a symptom of Kawasaki’s disease. A nurse practitioner misdiagnosed Kyler with pneumonia and sent him home.

The autopsy found that Kyler had acute heart failure. Kawasaki’s disease causes inflammation of the blood vessels in children and infants.

CoxHealth said in a statement that the care given was “appropriate” but said it couldn’t comment on the litigation in detail due to patient privacy restrictions.