(SmyrnaVinings.News) — A Smyrna father who has spent nine years seeking answers about his newborn son’s death in an Atlanta hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit says state lawmakers and unelected officials aren’t interested, even as one indicated the state’s top investigative agency should have probed the death from the start.
The man asked not to be identified because the case involves his child’s death in August 2017. He says hospital officials, state regulators and elected leaders have given him few answers and no accountability since.
“This isn’t only about what happened to my family,” he said. “It’s about whether the state wants to protect the sanctity of life and its most vulnerable residents.”
In May 2025, the head of the Georgia Composite Medical Board told him the Georgia Bureau of Investigation should have been contacted about the case, he said. But the official refused to call the state investigative agency himself, he said.
The board is one of three state agencies he has contacted, along with the Georgia Department of Community Health and the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit. According to records he shared, those investigations either found insufficient evidence of regulatory violations or directed him to other agencies.
His appeals to lawmakers date back to at least 2018, when he sought help from then-Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, who chaired the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. He says she never responded to his phone calls or social media messages.
He also spoke with then-Rep. Rich Golick, R-Smyrna, whom he described as dismissive and unhelpful.
In 2019, he contacted the office of Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk. While staff said they would encourage state officials to conduct a thorough review, it’s not clear whether they sent any formal correspondence.
The father renewed his appeals in 2025, writing to then-Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, and Rep. Mekyah McQueen, D-Smyrna, about health care oversight and the medical board. After several follow-up emails, he spoke with Esteves on Aug. 19, 2025.
However, Esteves resigned Sept. 10 to run for governor, and the man says he never received guidance on next steps. He says he never heard from McQueen directly, only someone who claimed to work for the lawmaker but who was not employed by the state.
He then turned to state Sen. Jaha Howard, D-Smyrna, whose office has not responded to several emails asking for help, and who won Esteves’ District 35 seat in a December 2025 special election runoff. While staffers said Howard would introduce a resolution, he didn’t, and neither he nor his office has responded to follow-up emails.
“When a constituent spends years contacting agencies and elected officials and still has no answers, that’s a representation problem,” he said. “At some point, people stop believing anyone is listening.”
He says he plans to keep pressing lawmakers to examine how state agencies handle complaints involving health care oversight and patient safety.
: