An Alabama mother sued the Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham for failing to properly diagnose and treat her 7-year-old daughter, Kamiya “Cookie” Dufermeau, ultimately leading to her death.
According to reports, Cookie began feeling ill in mid-April, having symptoms like fever, nausea, and stomach pain. She was brought to the emergency room at the hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with appendicitis on April 18, 2021. Instead of surgery, her doctor prescribed her medicine and discharged her the next day.
Her mother, Sherry Robinson, said in the lawsuit that on April 26, Cookie’s symptoms worsened to where she would curl up in a ball from the pain. Doctors instructed Robinson to return to the hospital, and Dr. Colin Martin performed a laparoscopic appendectomy on April 27, which the family’s lawyer Dr. Francois Blaudeau called “unremarkable.”
According to doctors, Cookie was well enough to be discharged and return to school—she did on May 3, 2021. That evening, Cookie began feeling weak and tired. So, Robinson took her daughter to her pediatrician, Dr. Theresa Bolus, at Midtown Pediatrics, a subsidiary of Children’s of Alabama hospital.
According to the lawsuit, the 7-year-old’s symptoms were vomiting, lethargy, emesis, and nausea—signs of post-surgical complication.
“The standard of care for a pediatrician required Dr. Bolus to recognize the signs and symptoms of a post-surgical complication and intervene appropriately, including a physical exam of the abdomen and imaging studies,” the lawsuit noted. However, Bolus “dismissed Kamiya’s signs and symptoms as the result of pinworms” and didn’t do a physical exam.
Dr. Martin’s staff told Robinson to rely on the pediatrician’s treatment, which was oral medication to treat the pinworms.
“The mother was still concerned about the child, and she contemplated going to the emergency room,” Dr. Blaudeau told CBS 42. “Ultimately, she decided to trust the doctors, who told her it was okay.”
On May 5, 2021, Cookie had a seizure before her grandmother and died. The grandmother dialed 911, and EMS attempted to revive Cookie. When they found a weak pulse, they took her back to the same hospital, but she died at 7:48 p.m.
“The Jefferson County Associate Medical Examiner concluded that Kamiya Dufermeau’s death was caused by complications of her recent appendectomy performed by Children’s Hospital and Dr. Martin,” according to the lawsuit.
The report showed that the death was caused by bowel necrosis, which meant that the tissue in her bowel died near where she had the surgery. The Atlanta Black star reported that the young child died from a rare but deadly condition, intestinal ischemia. That’s where the blood stops traveling to the bowel.
Robinson’s lawsuit also accuses Dr. Martin of “witness tampering” because he allegedly visited the coroner’s office and examed Cookie’s body, claiming his “involvement in the autopsy process and with Dr. McCleskey influenced the findings and conclusions of the autopsy report, including the final cause and manner of death.”
Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates denied that Dr. Martin saw the body before the final report and said it’s not “uncommon” for a coroner to reach out to the doctor who treated the patient to understand the treatment better.
Dr. Martin allegedly did examine the child’s bowels and saw that the stump from the appendix was accidentally attached to her intestines—information omitted from records. And the family wasn’t informed of the new news.
All Robinson wants is justice for the death of her baby, specifically punitive damages under Alabama’s wrongful death statute and other things the court thinks should be granted.
“I promise to be your voice and to keep fighting for you,” Robin said on social media, according to the Atlanta Black Star. “Rest, baby girl. Your job done here is finished. Save me a spot.”
