Massachusetts Girl Gets $11.5M In Medical Malpractice

Massachusetts Girl Gets $11.5M In Medical Malpractice

Introduction

A jury awarded $11.5 million in medical malpractice to an 18-month-old girl in Massachusetts. In April 2009, the girl, now 11, was brought to Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts by her father after she started vomiting and showed signs of dehydration.

According to the reports of a chest X-ray of the girl, the radiologist discovered that she had bronchiolitis v. atypical pneumonia. As the radiologist failed to diagnose her enlarged heart, it resulted in the delay of the treatment of myocarditis resulting in cardiac arrest and permanent brain damage.

The girl's attorneys said that the radiologist's medical negligence toward the patient resulted in the mishap causing lifetime ailments to the girl. If the radiologist had identified the enlarged heart, the standard of care would have involved an echocardiogram for diagnosing myocarditis, and even the physician would have proceeded accordingly.

The attorney further claimed that the mishap has permanently affected the girl's life as she is 11-years-old, but in terms of development and brain function, it is similar to a four-year-old.

In a similar incident at an Oak Park, Illinois, Hospital, a Cook County jury awarded a $101 million medical malpractice verdict for the family of a baby born with a damaged brain. As per the court papers, the nurses were ignorant of the infant's external fetal monitoring strips for six hours before and during his delivery, which led to abnormalities. The baby won't be able to take care of itself or speak for a lifetime due to the doctors' negligence in performing unnecessary C-section surgery.

The case was tried before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Robert E. Senechalle, Jr., at the Daley Center before a six-man-six-woman jury that deliberated six hours. The previous record in Illinois was $53 million for a baby born with brain damage in 2016.

“The jury was attentive throughout the entire trial and understood some very complicated medical concepts to achieve justice for little Gerald,” the representative from the plaintiff's family said following the trial. We are appreciative that the boy will now get the lifelong, 24/7 care that he needs for the rest of his life.”

Plaintiffs’ experts testified that the boy is expected to live a normal life span. He cannot speak or take care of himself in any way. The delivery occurred on August 9, 2014.