Lawsuit Over Brain Injured Boy Killed in Hospital

By Merylee Robbins

Published on August 30, 2005

Jake Clough, 14, was involved in a bicycle accident that left him with a traumatic head injury that placed him in Children's Mercy Hospital on a feeding tube. Over the month that the teenager was in the hospital, he showed signs of improvement, and doctors were considering moving him into a rehabilitation center.

Jake's prognosis was good until his feeding tube (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube) slid out of his stomach and remained in his abdomen, allowing the contents put into the tube to enter his abdominal cavity. The displaced feeding tube eventually killed Jake, and was not discovered until an autopsy was performed.

The lawsuit filed by the Cloughs claims that the doctors and hospital were negligent in the care of their son for not noticing the problem. Dislodged feeding tubes are not very common, however there is an elevated instance of these kinds of complications in feeding tube patients with dementia and head injuries.

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