DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, July 16th 2009, 4:00 AM
Thursday, July 16th 2009, 4:00 AM
A pounding headache sent 4-year-old Desville (Jomo) Charles to the emergency room, but his mom says a botched diagnosis killed him - and a false accusation made things even worse.
Instead of finding the brain aneurysm that eventually killed the little boy, Jomo's mom says in court papers that officials at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center accused her of abuse.
"They said I hit him," and they called the Administration for Children's Services, a sobbing Connie Charles told the Daily News. "I said, 'Why you call ACS? I don't hit my child. I don't hit him.'"
It wasn't until after the boy died - and after ACS cleared his mom - that an autopsy uncovered the cause of the crushing headaches that had tortured Jomo.
"Brookdale could have discovered this with a simple test, which they did not do," said Charles' lawyer, Steven Schiesel. "If they did, the child would be alive today. They were too busy blaming the mother for the child's problems."
A precocious Brooklyn boy, Jomo was just 4 in October 2005 when he told his mom his head hurt.
Charles, who works as a home health aide, rushed Jomo to the hospital just three blocks from their Brownsville apartment.
Doctors there took a look at Jomo, gave him some Tylenol, and sent him home, the suit states.
The next month, Jomo's headache returned with a vengeance, and once again, Charles took her son to the hospital. Only this time, it was be three days before they would let Jomo go home.
The next month, Jomo's headache returned with a vengeance, and once again, Charles took her son to the hospital. Only this time, it was be three days before they would let Jomo go home.
While doctors did a medical workup on the boy, including a bone scan, investigators questioned his mom and inspected his home, the suit charges.
"The detective tell me, 'He's a smart kid - is he in school?'" said Charles, who is from St. Vincent. "The detective said, 'Nobody hit him; you can let him go.' I was so upset. They angered me. I been abused as a child. Why should I hurt him?"
Three weeks later, Jomo was awakened by the worst headache yet and admitted to the hospital. He died there on Dec. 10, 2005.
"An autopsy was done by the medical examiner which showed an undiagnosed ruptured aneurysm in the brain," Schiesel said.
Brookdale's lawyer did not return phone calls for comment. A hospital spokeswoman declined to discuss the case because it's in court.
My Two Cents - What a shame!
What this mother didn't know was that if there was federal funding (Title IV-E) to find brain aneurysm's instead of federal funding to chough-protect-choke-gag-manufacture abused children her child would have been alive today!
It's high time they (doctors-shools- and whomever) stop looking so hard for abuse they may be missing something real!
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