BOSTON — The family of a 6-month-old boy who passed away during a sleep study at Boston Children’s Hospital last year has received a $15 million settlement in connection with the death of their young son.
Jackson Kekula was born with achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism that can complicate sleep issues, The Boston Globe reported. His parents, Becky and Ryan, had brought him to the hospital for a car seat test and a sleep study due to the condition that caused him to have episodes of sleep apnea and trouble breathing while in a car seat.
A routine test of Jackson’s ability to sit safely in a car seat in February 2022 left him without oxygen for more than 20 minutes after a series of errors by Children’s staff, The Globe said in citing an investigation conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Jackson ultimately suffered a catastrophic brain injury that left him on life support, the Kekulas and their lawyer, Robert Higgins, told the newspaper. Higgins said staff failed to properly monitor Jackson during testing, focusing on “what they thought was an equipment malfunction” instead of Jackson’s heartbeat.
In a statement shared with Boston 25, Children’s said it immediately stopped all sleep studies after Jackson’s death.
“Following this incident, we immediately stopped all sleep studies and began a thorough review of what occurred. We examined our policies, staff training, competencies, and all systems that support sleep lab studies, including scheduling, ordering, triaging, and performing the actual study,” Children’s wrote.
Children’s added, “We identified and implemented several improvements for how we conduct sleep studies, including a revision of responsibilities of team members, hands-on skills training and education for sleep lab staff, enhanced sleep technologist orientation and ongoing training, modification of the ordering and triage process that assesses potential risks to patients, and a review of the environment in which testing is conducted. After this review and implementation of these improvements, sleep studies were reinstated in a phased manner to ensure patient safety.”
In April, the Kekulas received the multi-million-dollar settlement, which is among the largest malpractice settlements ever reported in the Bay State, according to Higgins. The hospital also issued an apology.
“We express our deepest condolences and apologize to the family for the loss of their son,” Children’s said in its statement. “We continue to closely monitor the care delivery of sleep studies to ensure the highest levels of quality and safety for our patients and their families. We maintain our system-wide commitment to prioritizing and improving quality and safety as the foundation of all the care provided at Boston Children’s Hospital.”
It’s not clear if the technologists involved in Jackson’s sleep study are still employed by the hospital.
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