Dominique Page filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in November against UF Health and 14 employees of UF Health Shands Hospital, with more than 18 cited failures by the hospital.  

The lawsuit comes 19 months after the death of Page’s son, 2-year-old De’Markus Page, who was admitted for rhinovirus/enterovirus. The toddler died in March 2024 following an overdose of potassium, according to the lawsuit.  

The toddler was admitted to the hospital with dangerously low levels of potassium after continued crying, diarrhea and decreased oral intake. According to the lawsuit, Page was a picky eater and likely on the autism spectrum. He was also underweight for his age at 21 pounds.  

AdventHealth Ocala Hospital treated Page before transferring him to UF Health Shands Hospital for more specialty care. But the lawsuit claims that UF Health placed Page on a general pediatric floor without the necessary oversight for his case.  

The biggest mistake, though, the lawsuit said, was an incorrect dosage of potassium. On March 2, Page received 1.5 millimoles of potassium. The measure was calculated based on weight and his lab results from that same day.  

The lawsuit says the following day, a UF Health employee misplaced the decimal point and ordered 15 millimoles of potassium, which was administered twice daily. UF Health’s pharmacy system sent a red flag alert because of the high dosage, the lawsuit says, but the red flag failed to stop the treatment. Within 30 minutes of the second dose, Page entered a hyperkalemic state and suffered a hyperkalemic cardiac arrest.  

According to the lawsuit, several failures followed in how UF Health administered the Code Blue. Page was transferred to the pediatric ICU, where he battled anoxic damage for the next two weeks before life-support measures were removed.  

Dominique Page is requesting a jury trial over the 16-count lawsuit. 

UF Health has not yet legally responded to the lawsuit.