Family awarded $11.75 million for birth injuries
Birth is a difficult time for a mother and child; it puts an immense amount of stress on the bodies of both mom and the child. For children and their mothers, professional monitoring needs to be performed to make sure no labor complications occur during delivery. If a baby or mother is injured because of a doctor or medical provider not providing adequate care, they may have a case for compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Here’s a good example of that. A jury has awarded $11.75 million in damages to the family of a child who suffered severe brain damage at birth. According to the Troy Daily News, the child, now 9, was not breathing at the time of delivery. He was later found to suffer from cerebral palsy and developmental delays. The lawsuit claimed that the doctors, nurses and hospital staff did not read the fetal monitoring tapes accurately, leading to a mismanaged induction of labor and injuries to the child.
As a result of the injuries the child suffered, he will have ongoing medical concerns for the remainder of his life. He will need ongoing medical and therapeutic care; he will not be able to live on his own in the future, which could mean the need for a care home or facility in the case that his parents are unable to care for him.
The child’s parents were awarded $10.3 million for future economic losses and $1.8 million in salary and loss compensation. The $10.3 million aims to support medical and rehabilitation needs of the child as well.
Source: Troy Daily News, ” Jury awards $11.75 million in damages,” Oct. 07, 2016