Peachtree City couple has filed a lawsuit against

Children's Healthcare of Georgia in connection

with the death of their 17-month-old son in 1998.

Doctors

Amjad Iqbal, a Riverdale physician, and Steven

Leard, who practices in McDonough, are

individually named in the suit, according to

records filed in Fayette County Superior Court.

An

autopsy ruled that Jason Conley died of sepsis,

according to attorney Don Johnson of

Fayetteville, who is representing parents David

and Gayla Conley.

The

suit alleges that the defendants were repeatedly

negligent over a two-day period, from the

Conleys' first call to a doctor on a Saturday

night in March of 1998 to Jason's death early

Monday morning.

The

plaintiffs are asking for a judgment equal to

Jason's future earnings based on the current

average life-span for a male his age, which would

be more than 70 years. Also requested are

punitive damages, as well as funeral and medical

expenses.

Sepsis

is caused by a bacterial infection and must be

treated quickly, Johnson said. Symptoms include

dehydration and fever.

Although

the child exhibited all of the classic signs,

Johnson said, the case was never treated as an

emergency until it was far too late.

"As

a result of the negligence of the defendant(s),

Jason Conley suffered severe and excruciating

pain, both mental and physical, and he

died," the suit states.

Documents

filed by the plaintiffs include expert testimony

from Dr. Sharon Elizabeth Mace, director of

pediatric education/quality assurance at the

Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio.

According

to her statement, the Conleys contacted their

children's medical call service at about 8:20

p.m. Saturday, March 14, 1998. They reported that

their child had a fever and was vomiting 7-10

times per day.

The

nurse responding to the call used a triage form

for children over 24 months of age, and should

have directed the parents to bring the child to

an emergency department, Mace said. Instead, they

were directed to Iqbal, who prescribed medicine

without examining the child.

Iqbal

was covering that weekend for the Conleys'

regular pediatrician, who was not named in the

lawsuit.

The

next afternoon, the Conleys called again, and

this time they came to the Egleston Mt. Zion

immediate care center near Southlake Mall. Jason

was then examined by Leard, and at this point was

"severely dehydrated and in need of early

intervention," according to Mace.

The

staff at the Mt. Zion center failed to recognize

that the case was an emergency, used no fluids or

antibiotic therapy, and did not order the child

transported to the hospital soon enough, Mace

said.

call was placed to the hospital at about 6 p.m.,

but no dispatch was given until 6:30 and the

ambulance did not leave until 7 p.m., according

to Mace's statement. The child left the immediate

care center at about 8:20 and arrived at Egleston

Hospital in Decatur, near Emory University, just

after 9 p.m.

At

no time during the trip was the case treated as

an emergency, according to Mace's statement,

which was reiterated by Johnson last week.

The

child "arrested" a short while after

arriving at the hospital, Johnson said, and died

in the early hours of March 16.

Attorneys

for Iqbal have responded to the suit, saying in a

court filing that he did not contribute to the

plaintiff's loss and met the standard of care

generally given under the circumstances. Iqbal's

attorneys also said the venue and jurisdiction of

the suit were improper.

Johnson,

who says he takes a special interest in cases

involving injuries to children, said that he

wants to try the case in Fayette County and will

fight any attempts to move it. He hopes to go to

trial late this year or early next year, he said.

six-month discovery period is automatic in this

case, and Johnson said he would not be surprised

if that time were extended.

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