In Loving Memory Of Destiny Hager

Destiny Hager could be delightfully charming and frightfully aggressive.

In her darkest moments, the 3-year-old smashed her head against walls, lashed out at family members and bit herself. She battled insomnia. Her mood swings were sharp. She tried to suffocate a dog.

Her condition demanded intervention. Counselors directed Destiny and her parents, Angela and Greg Hager, to Prairie View hospital in Newton. Vernon Kliewer, a child psychiatrist in whom the Hagers placed trust but now condemn, prescribed two powerful drugs to control Destiny.

The tiny girl with shoulder-length brown hair was tranquilized by the medical regimen. But the Hagers were uncomfortable with dosages obliterating Destinys personality. They scheduled a doctors visit to wean her from medication.

Destiny began complaining of a stomachache three days before the appointment. Her pain appeared to ease, but it later mushroomed. She was raced to a hospital. Her anguished cries echo in Angelas memory.

The sound of it stays with me every day, she said. If you can picture a wounded animal in a trap trying to free itself, thats what she sounded like.

Destiny died within hours.

After three years of searching, and with their daughters burial finally only days away, both parents have lingering questions about Destinys death. They dont feel all physicians who treated Destiny have been forthcoming. And they havent placed her demise in context of a complex national debate about medicating children with mental illness.

Code blue

Destiny was carried through the doors of Morris County Hospital at 11:20 p.m. April 3, 2006. An X-ray revealed her colon was blocked — a known side effect of Seroquel and Geodon prescribed by Kliewer.

Angela said hospital physician Lora Siegle concluded the dosage of Seroquel authorized by Kliewer was inappropriately high for a 38-pound child. Siegles hospital notes say, I will stop the medications. The doctor considered sending Destiny to Childrens Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., but decided to care for the girl herself.

At 7:40 a.m., Destiny stopped breathing inside Room 11. A minister was called. Siegle managed to resuscitate Destiny. The girl was able to speak in a halting manner.

I love you, Destiny told her parents.

She required emergency surgery, but the modest hospital in this town of 2,300 wasnt staffed for the procedure.

A medical helicopter was called to transport Destiny to Childrens Mercy. Her pulse faded twice more, but doctors brought her back both times. Before LifeFlight departed, Angela said, a member of the air ambulance crew hugged the Hagers and offered advice.

She whispered in our ears — 'Get an attorney. There were things done wrong here.

Legal surprise

A Baptist minister drove the Hagers toward Kansas City. Angela prayed for the best. Greg feared the worst.

You just know she isnt coming back, Greg said. Its the worst feeling anybody can have.

Destiny was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m. on April 4 following a 45-minute flight.

The lives of Angela and Greg became a blur. Viewing their daughters lifeless body was crushing. An attempt to donate her organs failed. Later, strangers made them victims of malicious allegations. They also were beneficiaries of heartwarming empathy.

The Hagers hired the Wichita law firm of Hutton and Hutton to press a wrongful death lawsuit against Kliewer, Siegle and Morris County Hospital. Legal wrangling proceeded until December 2008 when Hutton and Hutton withdrew from all litigation involving Destiny. The law firm never fully explained to the Hagers satisfaction their reason for pulling out, the couple said.

The decision followed autopsy confirmation that Destiny died of fecal impaction and had antipsychotic drugs present in concentrations considered therapeutic in adults. The action came amid reports Geodon increased risk of potentially fatal heart-rhythm irregularities and people on Seroquel were more likely to suffer sudden cardiac death than patients taking older antipsychotics.

The Hagers attorneys walked away as state regulators completed a two-year investigation of Kliewer that found the doctor violated Kansas law while treating Destiny and five other children.

The Hagers say their own checkered past may have sabotaged this quest for justice and clarity.



Visit: http://cjonline.com/news/state/2009-06-06/child%E2%80%99s_death_a_tragic_destiny

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• R.I.P

[mafaldacrumbwitty]

First of all, Destiny's parents need a lawyer with a long and successful track record in medical malpractice suits. Then, they need to make sure that the village idiots treating their daughter lose their licenses in ALL fifty states. They should go after all of Destiny's medical records, and have them reviewed by one or two independent doctors. The past of the Hagers should have no bearing on the glaring malpractice suit about their child.

[debbeprim1]

this is sooo very sad that any one much less a child has to suffer like that because of the meds given to her were in to high a dose which led to destiny's death. MAY GOD B W/HER PARENTS AND GIVE THEM THE COMFORT ANDPEACE ALONG W/STRENGTH THAT ONLY HE CAN111

[upcycle]

I am glad that you posted confirmation of the death, based on an autopsy, was from Fecal Impaction. Dr. Walter Veith talks about this lethal condition can be result from consumption of dairy products. See video of lecture titled "Udderly Amazing" on youtube.

[MrYanGMC]

очень жаль (((