$15 Million Settlement After Infant Dies During Sleep Study at Boston Children's Hospital

Jackson Kekula was born in August 2021 with achondroplasia, a condition that causes dwarfism and can bring episodes of sleep apnea. By the time he was six months old, his parents, Becky and Ryan Kekula, had watched him improve enough that monitoring his breathing during sleep felt like routine precaution. On the night of February 18, 2022, they brought him to Boston Children's Hospital for a car seat safety test and a follow-up sleep study.

What followed was a cascade of failures by hospital staff. According to a Massachusetts Department of Public Health investigation, Jackson's oxygen saturation fell to 65 percent by approximately 9:50 p.m. Rather than checking directly on the infant, sleep technicians spent the next several minutes troubleshooting what they believed was faulty monitoring equipment. Video and vital-sign records from the unit documented how long Jackson went without adequate care. By the time staff finally confirmed he had nearly no pulse, he had gone without sufficient oxygen for more than 20 minutes.

Jackson suffered a severe traumatic brain injury from the prolonged oxygen deprivation. He was placed on life support. His parents held out hope while physicians assessed the extent of the damage, but the injury proved unsurvivable. On March 2, 2022, twelve days after the sleep study began, Becky and Ryan made the decision to withdraw life support. Jackson died that day.

Boston Children's Hospital suspended all inpatient and outpatient sleep studies for approximately five weeks in the aftermath. The hospital later acknowledged systemic failures, revising staff responsibilities, increasing the number of sleep technicians from 15 to 22, improving documentation protocols, and adding nursing oversight to the program. The hospital issued a public apology to the family.

Lubin and Meyer attorneys Robert Higgins and Andrew Meyer represented the Kekula family. The $15 million settlement, reached in April 2023, was reported by the Boston Globe as among the largest medical malpractice settlements in Massachusetts history. No trial was required; the case resolved before reaching a jury.