Miles Cohen died in his parents’ arms at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.A leaking feeding tube patched with tape. Lack of consent. A surgeon training to be a pediatric specialist. These are some of the red flags Miles’s parents discovered over the past 16 months as they traced the steps and missteps that left their baby dead in a world-class hospital.“We want to understand what happened to Miles so that this does not happen to another child,” said Joseph Cohen, Miles’s father. He and his wife, Margaret McBeath, have found the hospital “tight-lipped and guarded” when questions have been asked.Sick Kids is regarded as one of the best children’s and research hospitals in the world. The hospital told the Star Miles’s care could have been better, but would not answer detailed questions.“We conducted a review and determined that there were a number of areas where we could have performed better, which we deeply regret,” a Sick Kids spokesperson said. The Office of the Chief Coroner is investigating and says Miles’s case will be referred to its Paediatric Death Review Committee.The hospital told the Star it could not comment because of “patient privacy and confidentiality,” and that it would be “inappropriate” to comment because of the coroner’s investigation. With the help of the parents and 1,100 pages of hospital records, the Star has pieced together the story of the short life of Miles Cohen.Margaret McBeath and Joseph Cohen met about 16 years ago through mutual friends at the Green Room, a hangout popular with students near Bloor and Bathurst in Toronto. Joseph was working in accounting, and Margaret, a U of T student, would go on to work in human resources. Both had always wanted a large family, but when they first met, they didn’t think it would happen. Ten years earlier, Cohen had been told by a urologist he wouldn’t b ...
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