SEATTLE – Three new investigations are now open into a case at Seattle Children's hospital involving a 2-year-old boy who is now brain damaged after surgery.
Osman Ali stares blankly at the world. He's fed every 90 minutes by a tube in his nose. His brain was permanently damaged after a heart operation at Children's in February. His father, Nasir, wrote a letter of complaint to the Washington state Department of Health and has been notified an investigation is underway.
"I think it's a step forward in finding some of the answers that we don't know at this time," said Nasir.
- The DOH's Facilities and Services division is checking the hospital's procedures and policies.
- The Medical Quality Assurance Commission will examine what doctors did.
- The Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission will do the same for the nursing staff.
No timeline is set, but it could be months before they're wrapped up.
Children's confirmed for the first time Thursday that the state has told them the case is under investigation.
Hospitals are required to report "adverse medical events" to the state. In Osman's case, Children's didn't make that report. In fact, it reported no "adverse events" in the first quarter of this year.
"I have been told that his artery was ruptured because of the balloon that was used. But why we don't know any of that," said Nasir.
But it is not clear that Children's had any responsibility to report this to the state. An artery burst by a balloon catheter during a procedure and resulting brain damage may not fit any of the 28 state definitions for "adverse medical event."
Nasir just hopes the attention on the case and the three investigations will give him some answers.
"I'm his voice. I'm only his voice. I'm the only voice he can get at this time," said Nasir.
The head of Seattle Children's cardiac catheterization labs says the procedure used on Osman is standard. It has about a two-percent chance of failure. He says he believes that the family was aware of the risks involved at the time. He adds that everybody involved is saddened by the outcome.
Seattle Children's has promised nursing care to Osman through the end of October.
KING 5's Allen Schauffler contributed to this report.
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