Frustaci Boys Suffering From Cerebral Palsy
The first birthday for three surviving septuplets born to Patti and Sam Frustaci was marked Wednesday by disclosures that the two boys have cerebral palsy and all three suffer from eye, hearing and breathing disorders.
Janice M. Corsino, an attorney with the Los Angeles firm that represents the Frustacis, said the infants have been attached to monitors that sound a warning when breathing stops. “What happens is that then they’re stimulated to start breathing again.”
Corsino added that the two boys have had hernia surgery.
Patti Frustaci Wednesday placed flowers and balloons on the graves of the other four septuplets, Corsino said.
Happy, Sad Birthday
She said Browne Greene, the family’s lawyer, had described the first anniversary of the septuplets’ birth as a “happy and sad day--happy because the three kids are still living but sad because the family relived the events that led to the deaths. . . .”
The Frustacis, who live in Riverside, have filed a $3.2-million lawsuit against Dr. Jaroslav Marik, the doctor who injected Patti Frustaci with the fertility drug Pergonal. The lawsuit claims that Marik could have prevented a “medical catastrophe” by administering hormonal tests and making special ultrasonic examinations.
The couple have declined to talk to reporters.
The septuplets were delivered a year ago Wednesday at Childrens Hospital of Orange County in Orange. One was stillborn.
It was the first case of septuplets in the United States.
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