FT. BELVOIR, Va. (WUSA) -- Researchers estimate medical mistakes kill 200,000 Americans every year. Errors with medication injure an estimate 1.5 million of us.
One is the 2-year-old daughter of Iraq War vet allegedly hit with a massive overdose of chemotherapy at Walter Reed Army Hospital.
"I have 'kemia." says Kendall Heun, who is now three.
Other than a tube in her chest, Kendall shows little sign of all she's been through. A year ago, doctors diagnosed her with leukemia and recommended a three week course of the potent chemotherapy drug Doxorubicin.
"I was holding her, and I didn't stop it," says Melanie Heun, her voice breaking.
In one short 15 minute dose, medical workers at Walter Reed allegedly pumped Kendall with more Doxorubicin than she was supposed to get over the entire three weeks.
"I was telling her one thing," says her mom, "and my heart was saying something else. And I was praying to God that he would let me have a little more time with her."
Doxorubicin can severely damage your heart muscles -- even years later -- and children are particularly vulnerable. "She went a lobster red color," says Melanie Heun. "It almost looked like she was burning from the inside out."
Over the next few weeks, Kendall was back in the hospital repeatedly. "She had no white blood cells, it was zero, point zero zero."
The pain was so severe, doctors prescribed morphine for the toddler. "It was screaming at the top of her lungs and she wouldn't let me touch her."
Walter Reed's pharmacy chief has apologized for the error - but Kendall's mom says no one has ever explained how it could happen - how the hospital will keep it from happening again -- or how the military medical system could once again fail the troops. "He was in Iraq for three tours, and that's his daughter. So how you treat her is how you're treating him."
The Heun's have filed a claim through military channels, hoping if the worst happens, there will at least be some money set aside to care for Kendall.
We are still waiting to hear back from the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center about what happened to Kendall.
The good news: Kendall's cancer is in remission right now.
Written and Reported by Bruce Leshan
9News Now & wusa9.com