A jury in Philadelphia decided that Pottstown Memorial medical Center was completely responsible for a serious birth injury. According to the jury, a child developed quadriplegic cerebral palsy after she failed to receive enough oxygen because doctors delayed her delivery. This verdict is the second largest medical malpractice jury verdict rendered in Pennsylvania in the past 13 years. After deliberating for more than 15 hours, the Pennsylvania jury awarded the plaintiff $78.4 million, including $65 million for future damages.
According to court documents, the hospital told the child’s mother that her baby died. The mother responded and told doctors that she could still feel the child kicking inside of her. However, a nurse and obstetrician both claimed that they thought the child was dead after conducting multiple ultrasounds. After the first ultrasound failed to reveal the baby’s heartbeat, the doctor told the mother than her child died but proceeded to order a second ultrasound.
Court papers indicate that the doctor asked for a radiologist technician to confirm the baby’s death. When the technician arrived more than an hour later, the doctor discovered that the child’s heart was still beating. At first, the obstetrician claimed that the child miraculously “returned from the dead,” but later admitted that the ultrasound machine was outdated and failed to read the child’s heartbeat. The jury later stated that the outdated equipment was unacceptable.
The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson, M.D., J.D & Associates is dedicated to seeking justice for victims of medical malpractice. Birth injuries are all too common in the United States. That’s why the Washington medical malpractice lawyers at the firm are committed to helping parents obtain the money they need and deserve after their child suffers a serious birth injury. Click here to learn more about birth injuries and cerebral palsy.
Dr. Michael M. Wilson is an attorney and a physician who earned his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his legal and medical degrees from Georgetown University. He has focused in the area of medical malpractice for more than three decades and secured more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients throughout the country. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is listed in America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators.
