Settlement reached in 2-year-old's death

BALTIMORE, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- John Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Md., and the family of a young girl killed when given the wrong dosage of nutrients have reached a legal settlement.

Terms of the settlement were not released, but the hospital said it accepted responsibility for the 2-year-old child's death and "efforts to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement have been successful."

Brianna Cohen was diagnosed with brain cancer last April. She underwent several forms of treatment, including a bone-marrow transplant, before she was discharged from Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore on Dec. 1.

While at home she was treated with Total Parenteral Nutrition through an intravenous-feeding program associated with Johns Hopkins. On Dec. 4, the girl was found unconscious by her parents and taken to another hospital where she died.

A subsequent investigation by Johns Hopkins determined a solution bag used to feed the girl contained "excessively high amounts of potassium."

In a release Monday, Johns Hopkins said: "In the aftermath of Brianna's death, Hopkins pledged to take all necessary steps to investigate the causes and to put into place measures to improve safety processes. Significant progress has been made toward this commitment."

Johns Hopkins also said it was dedicating a playroom in Brianna Cohen's name.