ABOUT THE FAMILIES The Fromm Family Beginning from the time that Mark was born, he has gone through two life-threatening surgeries. First, when Mark was just seven weeks old, a shunt was placed in his heart. This procedure was followed by a bidirectional Glenn procedure when Mark was nine months old. This procedure in an open heart surgery that is used to prepare the heart for the Fontan procedure, which Mark is scheduled to have next year. The Gueldenzoph Family The day after Kenndyl was born, it became apparent to her physicians and parents that something was wrong. She was diagnosed with a heart defect and eventually transferred to Mott Children’s Hospital were she had open heart surgery to place a shunt in her heart. After the surgery, she was placed on Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation ("ECMO"). ECMO is a life support system that is used when a baby or child has a condition which prevents the lungs from working properly, i.e. transferring oxygen into the blood and removing carbon dioxide. It is also used to support patients who have heart failure. After a week on ECMO, Kenndyl’s condition had improved enough that she was taken off of ECMO. Unfortunately, Kenndyl was not strong enough to survive on her own and she died a few hours later. The Hargitt Family Shortly after Keagan was born, the doctors detected what they first believed to be a heart murmur. Hours later, Keagan underwent a catheterization to help the physicians determine what was wrong with his heart. He was then diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Thereafter, he had three additional surgeries trying to correct the serious defects with his heart and lungs so that he might survive. When he was just three weeks old, it became clear that his condition was more that he could overcome and Keagan died on February 7, 2002. The Mobley Family Beginning from the time that Hannah was born, she went through several life-threatening procedures. In November, 2002, she had her first of several surgeries to place a shunt in her heart. At six months old, she had her second surgery which attempted to correct her pulmonary artery. A few months later, she had a surgery to insert a feeding tube in an effort to help her gain weight. Finally, in June, 2004 she was sent to Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio where she was to undergo the placement of a stint. During this procedure, it became apparent that Hannah needed an immediate heart and lung transplant. She was to be placed on a ventilator until a donor could be found. However, the process of placing her on the ventilator was unsuccessful and Hannah died during the procedure. She was fifteen months old. When Taylor Mobley was born on October 17, 2002, in Dunbar, West Virginia, she was suffering from a life-threatening congenital heart defect, Ventricular Septal Defect ("VSD"). Shortly after birth, Taylor was placed on a ventilator to assist her with breathing. She spent five weeks in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit before she could finally go home. Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that, as Taylor continues to grow, she will continuously need to be monitored as her condition may require further treatment. The Vasquez Family Mrs. Vasquez took Paxil throughout her pregnancy with Adrian. She had asked her doctor if taking Paxil was safe and was assured that the manufacturer did not warn of any serious risks in taking Paxil during pregnancy. During the last month of her pregnancy with Adrian, Mrs. Vasquez had an ultrasound to determine the sex of her baby. It was during this ultrasound that the doctor discovered that there was something drastically wrong with Adrian’s heart. When he was born a few weeks later, on April 19, 2004, in Norfolk, Virginia, he had several life-threatening congenital heart defects. Adrian had his first open-heart surgery at eight days. At five months, he underwent his second open-heart surgery, which lasted three hours. His parents were told that his chances of survival were low. At ten months, in February 2005, Adrian underwent emergency open-heart surgery which took over six hours to complete. Again, Adrian’s parents were told that his chances of survival were slim. It was at this point that a pacemaker was installed. Adrian had to remain in the hospital for over a month and was finally discharged from the hospital on April 3, 2005, just a few weeks before his first birthday. Although Adrian’s health has improved since the installation of the pacemaker, he will need repeated heart surgeries as he continues to grow. His prognosis is unclear. He still may need artificial replacement valves, and perhaps eventually a heart transplant.
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