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Psychiatrist Sued in Death of Girl 4 ...



 
 
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Old April 8th 08, 05:11 PM posted to misc.health.alternative,talk.politics.medicine,misc.health,misc.legal,misc.kids.health
Ilena Rose
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Default Psychiatrist Sued in Death of Girl 4 ...

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Doctor is sued in death of girl, 4
Her psychiatrist treated her with powerful drugs
http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...ath_of_girl_4/
By Shelley Murphy
Globe Staff / April 4, 2008

The parents of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley are awaiting trial on charges
that they killed her in December 2006 with an overdose of psychiatric
drugs.

A medical malpractice suit filed yesterday asserts that a Tufts
Medical Center psychiatrist who diagnosed the girl as bipolar when she
was 28 months old and then treated her for two years with a regimen of
powerful drugs is to blame for her death.

"This child was subject to mostly telephone prescriptions and a
slipshod diagnosis," said Boston lawyer Andrew C. Meyer Jr., who
represents Rebecca Riley's estate and filed the suit against Dr.
Kayoko Kifuji in Suffolk Superior Court.

Six weeks before Rebecca Riley was found dead on Dec. 13, 2006, in a
Hull house shared by her parents and other relatives, a nurse at her
Weymouth preschool warned Kifuji that she suspected the child was
overmedicated because she was often too tired to participate in school
activities and appeared like a "floppy doll," according to Meyer.
Kifuji did not reduce her medication after examining the child, he
said.

"They made her a 4-year-old zombie," said Meyer, whose Boston law firm
Lubin & Meyer specializes in medical malpractice cases. "We don't
believe that she did suffer from bipolar or that this was the
appropriate medication."

The suit was filed on behalf of a court-appointed guardian who is
serving as administrator of Rebecca Riley's estate and is protecting
the interests of the girl's 13-year-old brother and 7- year-old
sister. It seeks unspecified damages for the wrongful death and pain
and suffering endured by Rebecca, as well as the loss suffered by her
brother and sister, who are in foster care and have been named the
beneficiaries of her estate.

Kifuji could not be reached for comment yesterday. Since the child's
death, Kifuji remains on staff at Tufts Medical Center, but no longer
treats patients. She has voluntarily agreed not to practice medicine,
pending an investigation by the state Board of Registration in
Medicine.

Tufts Medical Center released a statement yesterday saying: "We have
not received any official notification of a lawsuit. We remain in
support of Dr. Kifuji and the care she provided."

Kifuji diagnosed Rebecca Riley with bipolar disorder and attention
deficit and hyperactivity disorder and prescribed clonidine, a blood
pressure medication that is sometimes used to calm aggressive
children, Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug, and Depakote, an
antiseizure drug, according to court records. The child died from an
overdose of the prescription drugs, and, by itself, the amount of
clonidine in her system was fatal, court records indicate. Clonidine
and Depakote are approved by the FDA for adults only.

A trial date has yet to be set for Michael and Carolyn Riley, who were
initially charged with first-degree murder in intentionally
overmedicating their daughter and knowing that it would be fatal.

In December, a judge reduced their charges to second-degree murder,
ruling that there was insufficient to evidence to support the
prosecution's assertion that the death was premeditated. Prosecutors
are appealing that ruling to the state appeals court.

In court after the parents' arrests, a prosecutor alleged that the
Rileys falsely said their daughter was mentally unstable so she would
qualify for Social Security disability benefits and then deliberately
overmedicated her. Carolyn Riley's brother, who was living with the
Rileys in Hull, told investigators that Rebecca was ill for days prior
to her death and that he pleaded with her parents to take her to the
hospital, but they refused, according to a State Police affidavit
filed in the case.

Kifuji told police she was "shocked and very concerned" in October
2005 when Carolyn Riley told her she had gradually increased Rebecca's
nighttime dose of clonidine and warned her not to do so again because
increasing the dosage could be fatal, according to the affidavit.

Brockton lawyer John G. Darrell, who represents Michael Riley, said
the suit raises "an interesting question" about who is responsible for
Rebecca Riley's death. "I think the facts will eventually show that my
client did not do anything criminal."

Carolyn Riley's lawyer could not be reached for comment. The Rileys
remain in custody without bail, pending trial.

Meyer said that even if a jury finds Rebecca Riley's parents guilty of
murder, it does not alleviate Kifuji of liability.

"The primary responsibility falls on this doctor," Meyer said. "The
failure of this doctor to respond to the warnings she was given and to
thoroughly investigate the symptoms that her medication was causing
ended with this very sad result here of a young girl dying."
 




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