$205M Birth Injury Verdict Overturned

$205M Birth Injury Verdict Overturned

Introduction

A $205 million birth injury lawsuit verdict, which is considered to be one of the largest medical malpractice awards in U.S. history was overturned by the Maryland Court of Appeals in the first week of February. The lawsuit was brought by a woman for herself and her daughter against a Maryland medical center, claiming that her child suffered from cerebral palsy due to a misdiagnosis of preeclampsia by the doctors. According to the court memorandum, in October 2014, the woman was admitted to the hospital after she showed signs of severe preeclampsia. The memorandum states that the doctors told the 25 weeks pregnant woman that her baby was viable outside of the womb and would die or be severely brain-damaged by a C-section procedure, following which she says she declined the procedure as per the doctors’ recommendations. The woman was initially awarded $229 million by a Baltimore jury in July 2019, which was later slashed to $205 million due to malpractice caps that limit the amount plaintiffs can receive in a lawsuit. In the recent hearing, a three-judge Court of Special Appeals panel overturned the verdict stating a lack of evidence during the trial. The ruling stated that the woman was provided with proper treatment options by the doctors and still she opted to have a vaginal delivery. The child suffered the injuries as warned by the doctors and now requires round-the-clock care due to permanent neurological disabilities and a seizure disorder. Earlier, a family whose son was born at the Hoboken University Medical Center received a settlement of $7.1 million for the severe brain damage that their son suffered. Parents of the child filed a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital, alleging the doctors and nurses of negligence towards the child's health during the delivery. Currently, the kid is three years old and is unable to walk and feed himself. Medical documents submitted to the court state that he suffers from a host of severe medical problems, including seizures and hydrocephalus, and requires constant medical care and eight separate medications. Initially, the names of several doctors and nurses came forward in the case, but the settlement included the name of only one doctor and the hospital. Plaintiffs' lawyer said that the approval of the settlement came on December 10, and they received the money later in the same month. The settlement includes around $650,000, which goes to a trust for the medical care of the kid. $3 million is to be used to structure a settlement annuity that will pay $27,000 for 10 years to the kid. Earlier, a Port Townsend family was awarded $23 million from a state jury in Washington in a similar lawsuit. In 2014, the baby of the family suffered a permanent brain injury during birth at Jefferson Healthcare Medical Center. The jury held the nurses and the doctors responsible for the baby's brain injury. The court papers notified that the baby was in pain during delivery as the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck deprived her of oxygen, which resulted in permanent brain damage to the child. The juries claimed that the authorities misheard the mother's heartbeat, considering it to be the baby's that made the doctors think that the baby is safe. The incident has resulted in permanent cognitive impairment, speech and language deficits, and impaired motor skills for the baby that will have a lifelong impact.