The Anne Arundel Medical Center has hired a New York lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice law to probe the case of three newborns who were found with opiates in their systems last week in the hospital's critical care nursery.
Hospital administrators called on lawyer Warren Sanger after they investigated the incident for nearly a week without finding any clues, said Beth Evins, director for administrative and customer relations at the hospital.
"We have gathered as much evidence at this point as we can, and we need the expertise of individuals who have done similar investigations in the past," she said.
Mr. Sanger will arrive at the hospital tomorrow morning and dictate the course of the investigation, Ms. Evins said. In the Jan. 31 incident, three newborns suffered respiratory difficulties within hours of each other, and tests later revealed all had narcotics in their systems, she said.
Doctors have ruled out the possibility that the narcotics were transferred from the mothers. One of the babies was released from the hospital earlier this week. None of the babies is expected to suffer lingering health problems as a result of the incidents, hospital staff members said.
Mr. Sanger is a partner in the Manhattan law firm Bower, Sanger and Futterman, which specializes in medical malpractice law.
Recently, Mr. Sanger successfully defended a Long Island hospital that faced questions over whether a series of problems was intentional or accidental, senior partner Peter Bower said.
Mr. Sanger could not be reached last night.
Hospital administrator Lisa Hillman said Mr. Sanger and his associates were called in because they are experts in uncovering "medical mysteries" who just happen to be attorneys.
"We are not bringing them in because they're lawyers, we're bringing them in because they're experts in this sort of investigation," said Ms. Hillman, the vice president for development and community affairs.
But some experts in medical malpractice law say there's only one reason for a hospital to call in lawyers: fear of lawsuits. "Most episodes like this indeed raise the specter of a medical malpractice suit," said Marvin Ellin, a medical malpractice trial lawyer. "They're already well under way in preparing themselves for a potential claim filed by parents of these children."
The hospital will encourage the state's attorney's office and police department to join tomorrow's meeting, but Mr. Sanger will take over the rest of the investigation, Ms. Hillman said.
Tests on all solutions and medications taken from the nursery were "inconclusive" yesterday, and more concrete results are expected today, said hospital spokeswoman Carolyn Shenk.