Pa. jury hearing peanut-in-lung case

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania jury is being asked to decide whether radiologists are to blame for not spotting a peanut lodged in the lung of a toddler who died as a result nearly five years ago.

In opening statements Monday, Atty. Scott Melton of Pittsburgh, says Sylvan Radiologists of Altoona were negligent in the March 2006 death of 23-month-old Ashley Cotto. Melton represents the girl’s mother, Jolene Cotto, of Altoona.

But attorneys for the doctors tell the Blair County jury that X-rays of the girl were within normal limits and didn’t show the peanut.

The girl had problems after crying with a peanut in her mouth in January 2006 and was X-rayed in late February when she continued to have breathing problems. An autopsy showed a peanut was lodged in the girl’s bronchial tube.