| Saturday, April 12, 2008 9:42 PM CDT |
Inquest: Faulty ventilator responsible for death of 2-year-old
By Pantagraph staff
PEKIN — A faulty ventilator was responsible for the death of a 2-year-old Hopedale boy nearly one year ago, a coroner’s jury ruled Friday.
Tazewell County Coroner Dennis Conover said Quinn Kephart died at Hopedale Medical Complex’s emergency room March 26, 2007, shortly after his ventilator failed. A jury ruled the boy, who had muscular dystrophy, died from asphyxia and his death was considered accidental.
Conover said the boy’s ventilator was made by Minneapolis-based Pulmonetic Systems Inc. A call to the company was not returned Friday afternoon.
Records from the Federal Food and Drug Administration show Pulmonetic issued four recalls related to its ventilators in 2002 and 2004. Conover said the boy’s death caused another recall, but no records could immediately be found related to such a recall.
The coroner’s jury also blamed in part a guardrail in the death of a 44-year-old Mackinaw man killed in a one-vehicle crash Feb. 6.
Scott R. Hollis died of drowning and had blunt force trauma to his head and chest after his truck collided with a guardrail and went off Allentown Road east of Court Street in Pekin, Conover said. His truck overturned in an overflowing creek.
Jurors blamed poor driving conditions and a poor guardrail, and they recommended authorities build a better traffic barrier and put up signs warning of the curve in the road, Conover said.
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