Former mayoral candidate sues prominent doctor, El Paso Children’s Hospital over daughter’s death
EL PASO, Texas -- A wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this month accuses a prominent El Paso doctor and El Paso Children’s Hospital of “gross negligence” in the death of a young girl a year ago.
The suit was filed by David Saucedo, a 2017 candidate for El Paso mayor and small-business owner, and his wife, Mariana Terrazas Saucedo, over the death of their then-3-year-old daughter, Ivanna.
The suit names Dr. Robert Canales, a well-known family doctor, the children’s hospital and pediatric neurologist Dr. Rodolfo Fierro-Stevens.
The Saucedos are asking for a jury trial and damages of more than $1 million. The lawsuit was filed in the court of 171st District Judge Bonnie Rangel.
The suit says that the death of their child “was no accident.”
The suit alleges that Canales has “been misdiagnosing and injuring children across El Paso for decades.”
It also blames Ivanna’s death on the Children’s Hospital’s “systematic and wide-spread policies and procedures which endangered patients” and placed profits over patients to entice doctors like Canales to conduct business at the hospital.
Prior to Ivanna’s death, she had suffered from hydrocephalus, which is commonly referred to “water on the brain.”
On Aug. 29, 2019, their daughter began to vomit.
The Saucedos contend that they were forced to wait hours at the hospital for Canales to arrive and treat their daughter. No else on the hospital’s staff stepped up to provide care during the wait, either, the suit contends.
They say their daughter fell into a coma, her condition continued to worsen and she died on Sept. 2, 2019.
Officials with El Paso Children's Hospital declined to comment to ABC-7, saying they don't discuss pending litigation.
