BATON ROUGE -- Parents claim their child died because of medical negligence by a Baton Rouge hospital.
Roy Walker (father) and Verdie Batiste (mother), on behalf of their deceased minor child, filed a complaint on April 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against Woman's Hospital Foundation d/b/a Woman's Hospital of Baton Rouge, Dr. Cynthia Voelker and Dr. Nicole Mitchell.
According to the complaint, Batiste found out while 12 weeks pregnant that her daughter would be born with a defect affecting her lungs. Batiste and Walker discussed with Woman’s Hospital a “birth plan” that included the possibility of their daughter being born with underdeveloped lungs that would require an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine.
Batiste and Walker asked if the Woman's Hospital had such a machine, and it is alleged it said it did not. On April 22, 2020, the daughter was born and taken immediately to the NICU.
Hours later, Batiste and Walker asked to see their daughter when doctors and staff allegedly said they were "trying to get her ready." The next morning, Batiste and Walker learned their child had pulmonary hypertension and asked when their daughter would be moved to a place with a ECMO machine.
Dr. Voelker allegedly told Batiste and Walker that their daughter would not be moved because she did not meet "the criteria." Batiste and Walker allege that meeting "criteria" was never discussed with them before the birth.
Batiste previously checked her insurance to make sure it would cover the transfer and ECMO. A second neonatologist, Dr. Mitchell, told Batiste the hospital would look into transferring the child to Ochsner, then denied her request to transfer to Texas Children’s (which would have accepted the child) because Batiste’s insurance did not cover out of state transport (which it did), the suit says.
Batiste and Walker then talked to a social worker who allegedly said Woman’s Hospital would not transfer the child to an out-of-state facility, because “they think you have Medicaid.” The child was never transported and died on April 24, 2020.
Batiste and Walker seek compensatory and special damages. Batiste and Walker are represented by Ronald S. Haley, Jr of Haley and Associates Attorneys at Law LLC.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana 3:21-cv-00244-JWD-RLB