The Pennsylvania Department of Health has cited the Penn State Hershey Medical Center in the death of a 6-year-old boy whose temperature topped 107 degrees while he was under a special heating blanket.
The health department says there are no records that the boy’s temperature was taken during a 10-hour period, and says the hospital didn’t report the “serious event” until 77 days later.
Such incidents are supposed to be reported within 24 hours.
The hospital says the boy had “ongoing, complex and life-limiting health issues” when he was brought to the hospital in January with a below-normal temperature.
He was put under a special blanket that forces warm air onto patients to raise their temperature.
The hospital says it has launched its own investigation into the death.
