MCDONOUGH, Ga.,None — Channel 2 Action News broke the story of a medical mistake that killed a little girl who showed up to a Henry County urgent care clinic with only a broken arm. Its a story Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamant has been following for nearly three months.
On Tuesday, Diamant obtained a copy of the Georgia Composite Medical Boards order suspending the license of the physicians assistant investigators say gave 5-year-old Kensley Kirby a lethal dose of anesthesia during a procedure he wasnt allowed to do.
What happened inside the Family Medical Clinic on Highway 20 in McDonough left Jeffrey Lane, the Georgia Medical Boards top investigator saddened and stunned.
It is very upsetting to not just me, but the board members and, I think, the public, Lane said.
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In June, Kirbys parents took her to the urgent care clinic after she fell and broke her arm. The Henry County coroner confirmed Kirby died from a lethal dose of a local anesthetic called Lidocaine.
When a case rises to a level such as this one did, then the board felt compelled to act, explained Lane.
Acting fast, the Medical Board suspended the license of physician assistant and clinic co-owner Allan Imes for injecting Kirby with three times the recommended dose of Lidocaine for someone her size and performing an unauthorized procedure on Kirbys broken arm.
When the board feels theres an imminent threat, the law provides the board to issue a summary suspension prior to any legal proceedings, Lane said.
Diamant went to the clinic looking for an explanation from Imes, but was told he wasnt in.
Diamant eventually found the clinics director, Lori Imes, at its second location in Locust Grove.
We have absolutely no comment due to confidentiality reasons and HIPAA regulations, Imes told Diamant. We cannot comment on this case at all.
Diamant told Lori Imes that the information in the Medical Boards order wasnt protected under HIPAA.
No, it does not apply to whats in the order, but we have no comment about that, Imes responded.
When Diamant asked Imes whether she had anything to say to the clinics other patients who might have questions about the case, Imes responded, I have no comment.
Late Tuesday afternoon, a clinic worker handed Diamant a written statement saying that the clinic provides "quality healthcare," and sends its "deepest felt condolences to the Kirby family."
Meantime, Allan Imes does have the right to a hearing before the medical board to try to get his license back.
Diamant learned the clinic and Kirby's family have both hired lawyers.
WSBTV
