Baby Ryan Dies; His Medical Treatment Prompted Debate
PORTLAND - Baby Ryan, who prompted a national debate on medical ethics after doctors tending his birth deemed him too sick to live, has died of complications from his congenital problems.
Ryan Nguyen died Tuesday in the pediatric intensive-care unit at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. He was 4 years old.
Ryan was born eight weeks premature on Oct. 12, 1994, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Just before birth, the placenta separated from his mother's uterine wall, causing Ryan to lose a large amount of blood. He suffered kidney damage, severe intestinal problems and possible brain damage.
When doctors at the Spokane hospital discontinued his kidney dialysis a few weeks later to see how he would do without it, he got worse. They tried to talk his parents into letting Ryan die, but they refused.
Nghia and Darla Nguyen got a court order to reconnect Ryan to kidney dialysis.
When a Portland kidney specialist heard about the case and agreed to treat Ryan in December 1994, the baby was flown to Portland's Legacy Emanuel Hospital and underwent intestinal surgery. Four months later, he was sent home to round-the-clock medical care but was frequently hospitalized because of his problems.
A judge in October 1997 dismissed a lawsuit filed in Spokane by the Nguyens accusing Sacred Heart of negligence.