MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

The grandmother of a deceased infant claims the baby died of neurological damage due to a doctor's negligence.

On May 6, Sharon Bass filed a lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court individually and as special administrator of the estate of her deceased grandson, Michael Brown Jr., against Dr. Hee Song and Touchette Regional Hospital.

Bass says her daughter, Alisha Williams, was admitted to Touchette on May 7, 2007, for the delivery of her child, Michael Brown Jr. Throughout her delivery, Williams was under the care of Song, according to the complaint.

Brown was born on May 8, 2007, and suffered neurological damage, which caused his death on Nov. 16, 2007, when he died of complications from his neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, the complaint says.

While Williams was going through labor, hospital employees failed to make an adequate assessment of the fecal monitor tracing, failed to treat Brown for abnormal tracing and administered an excessive dose of Cytotec, according to court records.

They also failed to use terbutaline in a proper manner and failed to perform a cesarean section when it was indicated, the suit states.

Bass says in her complaint that Touchette should never have granted admission privileges to Song, who was not qualified to manage labor and delivery. Instead, the hospital should have contacted another physician to manage Williams's labor and delivery, the complaint says.

Bass claims Song was guilty of negligence by failing to perform a cesarean section when it was indicated, by ordering the inappropriate use of Cytotec, by failing to treat Brown during his delivery, by failing to properly interpret fetal monitor heart strips, by failing to obtain a timely consultation, by causing Williams's uterus to become hyperstimulated, by failing to appropriately evaluate Brown in a timely manner and by failing to use terbutaline during Brown's delivery.

Before his death, Brown suffered injuries, disability, a diminished ability to enjoy life, pain and suffering, the complaint says.

Because of Brown's death, Bass says she incurred medical and funeral costs.

Brown's parents sustained a loss of companionship and society, according to the complaint.

In the six-count suit, Bass is seeking a judgment in excess of $300,000, plus costs.

Ray E. Alexander of Brown and Crouppen in St. Louis is representing Bass.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 09-L-230.