Couple Wins $15 Million Settlement After Son, 6 Months, Dies During Sleep Study at Boston Children's Hospital

Becky and Ryan Kekula — from Plymouth, Massachusetts — learned that their son Jackson was left without oxygen for more than 20 minutes before he died at Boston Children’s Hospital

A Massachusetts couple has received a $15 million settlement after their 6-month-old son died during a sleep study.

Becky and Ryan Kekula — from Plymouth, Massachusetts — brought their son Jackson to Boston Children's Hospital for a car seat test and a sleep study on February 18, 2022.

During the study, his parents told WCVB5 that Jackson's oxygen levels and heart rate dropped to dangerously low levels. After a half an hour, their baby boy was in cardiac arrest.

Although hospital staff performed CPR on Jackson, the Kekula family say he had severe brain damage and they made the decision to take him off life support 12 days later.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health later investigated Jackson's case and found that hospital staff made a series of errors that left him without oxygen for more than 20 minutes.

Due to the tragedy, the Kekulas were awarded a $15 million settlement from the Boston Children's Hospital, the outlet reports.

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Following the case, Boston Children's Hospital released a statement to WCVB5.

"We express our deepest condolences and apologize to the family for the loss of their son," the hospital said. "Following this incident, we immediately stopped all sleep studies and began a thorough review of what occurred. We examined our policies, staff training, competencies and all systems that support sleep lab studies, including scheduling, ordering, triaging and performing the actual study."

"We identified and implemented several improvements for how we conduct sleep studies, including a revision of responsibilities of team members; hands-on skills training and education for sleep lab staff; enhanced sleep technologist orientation and ongoing training; modification of the ordering and triage process that assesses potential risks to patients; and a review of the environment in which testing is conducted. After this review and implementation of these improvements, sleep studies were reinstated in a phased manner to ensure patient safety."

"We continue to closely monitor the care delivery of sleep studies to ensure the highest levels of quality and safety for our patients and their families," the statement ended. "We maintain our system-wide commitment to prioritizing and improving quality and safety as the foundation of all the care provided at Boston Children's Hospital."

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