LOS ANGELES - Medical malpractice allegations have been brought against multiple defendants including Altamed Health Service Corporation, according to documents filed Feb. 16 in Los Angeles federal court.
The plaintiff is minor Jackqueline Becerra Galarza through her mother Maria Galarza. According to the lawsuit, the defendants failed to diagnose one-year-old Jackqueline as having a battery in her chest.
The toddler was seen by the defendants for approximately six months as she presented symptoms of a thoracic inlet blockage, starting in April 2019 when she was admitted to the Altamed Urgent Care Center for coughing, phlegm and wheezing. The suit states that the defendants negligently dismissed the toddler as having bronchiolitis.
The plaintiff returned to the Urgent Care Center just over a month later. She was diagnosed with a virus and tobacco exposure. Dr. Maldonado, Jackqueline's pediatrician, assured her parents that she was healthy despite worsening symptoms, the suit says.
On May 26, the toddler was admitted to the Children's Hospital of Orange County, where the battery was discovered.
The plaintiff is represented by Haffner Law PC of Los Angeles and is charging one count of negligence in medical malpractice, seeking general, special and consequential damages, legal interest, costs of suit and other judgments as deemed appropriate.