Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach is part of the MemorialCare hospital group. It has been named as one of the top children’s hospitals in the country by Leapfrog, a hospital rating organization.
State health investigators are looking into whether the hospital permitted unauthorized research studies to be performed on children with respiratory problems. The studies involve "bronching" of children (placing flexible tubes into the bronchi with attached camera through the mouth and trachea). A hospital board member, Dr. J. Carlos Maggi, is one of the lead physicians conducting the study. Families of patients have complained that they were misled when told that the children needed the procedure.
Mary (not her real name) has a teenage daughter (Jane, not her real name).
A few years ago, Jane was rushed to the hospital for asthma.
Jane is on Medi-Cal.
Dr. J. Carlos Maggi was her doctor in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Miller’s.
Dr. Maggi told Mary that Jane had a lot of fluid on the lungs and other stuff in the lungs.He said that she needed a Flexible Bronchoscopy to save her life. She has since learned that this was a lie. The procedure was not necessary and only made her daughter sicker.
Dr. Maggi told her to leave the room. Mary was very upset because her daughter was in critical condition and he was making her sicker, putting her more at risk by doing this unnecessary procedure.
Dr. Maggi never told her he was doing a big research study on Flexible Bronchoscopy or that her daughter was part of a study.
He never asked her to sign a consent to be part of his research. He did not mention that he was doing anything unusual, even though she has since learned that this procedure was experimental.
Mary is very upset that this doctor took advantage of her daughter for his own purposes. She has filed a complaint against Dr. Maggi with the Medical Board.
Numerous other children were experimented on without their permission, including at least one who died. One brain dead. Dr. Maggi still did the procedure.
