Baby Dies; Mother Paralyzed by Mistaken Injection of Drug

The premature infant born to a woman left paralyzed and comatose after a mistaken injection died Tuesday night, hospital officials said.

The baby, delivered 2 1/2 months premature by Caesarean section to Lillian Cedeno, 21, of Schenectady, died of cardiac arrest, said Richard Ridgeway, spokesman for Albany Medical Center.

“The baby had been critical and unstable for the past week,” said Elmer Streeter, a hospital spokesman. “We have seen the effect of a long-term illness that’s very devastating in a small child. It’s not an unusual cause of death in a premature baby. The other organs cannot keep up.”

Cedeno remained in critical but stable condition Tuesday night. She was left paralyzed with virtually no hope of survival after doctors inadvertently injected the anti-cancer drug vincristine into her spine Feb. 27. The drug is meant to be injected only into a vein.

The woman, who was 25 weeks pregnant at the time, was undergoing chemotherapy for a tumor in her sinuses. On March 16, doctors performed a Caesarean section to deliver her 1-pound, 15-ounce baby girl, named Lillian Kathy.