Gideon Asen Files Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Alleging Years-Long Failure to Diagnose Child’s Hip Dysplasia

Gideon Asen has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in Penobscot County Superior Court on behalf of Elizabeth Haven-Cirame and her daughter, Kenzlee Haven, alleging that Millinocket Regional Hospital and two of its medical providers failed to timely diagnose Kenzlee’s developmental dysplasia of the hip.

According to the complaint, Kenzlee was born with developmental dysplasia of the hip, a condition in which the hip sockets fail to properly form and stabilize the ball of the hip joint. The lawsuit alleges that, for nearly the first five years of her life, both of Kenzlee’s hips were completely dislocated, causing pain, delayed motor development, and an abnormal gait.

"For years, Kenzlee’s medical providers were presented with one warning sign after another — delayed walking, an abnormal gait, failed developmental screenings, and a mother who knew something was wrong with her child. Instead of investigating those red flags, they were normalized and brushed aside during the exact period when this condition is most treatable. Today, Kenzlee has endured multiple invasive surgeries and faces a lifetime of pain and impairment from a condition that should have been caught years earlier. Cases like this matter because parents deserve to know that when they raise concerns about their child, those concerns will be heard and taken seriously."

Attorney Trevor Savage of Gideon Asen

The complaint alleges that medical providers at Millinocket Regional Hospital were repeatedly presented with warning signs, including delayed walking, abnormal crawling, abnormal gait, failed developmental screening results, and concerns raised by Kenzlee’s mother. Despite those red flags, the lawsuit claims that the defendants failed to perform appropriate examinations, order imaging, or refer Kenzlee to a specialist during the period when the condition was most treatable.

Kenzlee was ultimately diagnosed with developmental dysplasia of the hip by a pediatric orthopedist at another hospital when she was nearly four-and-a-half years old. By then, the complaint alleges, she had aged out of the window when less invasive treatment could have corrected the condition.

Since her diagnosis, Kenzlee has undergone multiple invasive surgeries, including procedures involving both hips. The lawsuit alleges that the delay in diagnosis has caused permanent leg-length discrepancy, persistent gait abnormality, increased risk of future complications, and a lifetime of pain and impairment.

Link to the official complaint here