A 2-year-old girl who went to Montefiore Medical Center because of a rash left with a potential life sentence after getting pricked with dirty needles that had been left in an open bin on the floor of a clinic.
Now little Hailey Rodriguez is suffering through the side effects of HIV drugs while her family waits to learn if she contracted the deadly virus.
“She went in for one thing and came out worse. How could this happen?” said the girl’s mom, Nadia Maklad.
Maklad, 26, of The Bronx, had taken her only child to the Montefiore Medical Arts Pavilion pediatric-dermatology office on Oct. 7.
From there, she was sent to the allergist. Maklad said it was there that she was answering a doctor’s questions when Hailey came over crying and bleeding from her belly and hand.
Maklad said the girl, who turned 3 on Monday, has been violently ill from all the drugs. Maklad’s lawyer, Sue Karten, said the family will likely sue.
Montefiore spokesman Steven Osborne said, “We’ve been consulting with the family regarding the incident, and working with them to see that appropriate care is provided.”