Baby Doe, a twin, was born at 32 weeks gestation. Baby Doe was admitted to a hospital’s NICU where she remained in stable condition for several days. Baby Doe developed a low-grade fever, tachycardia and irregular breathing. The next day, Baby Doe’s condition worsened. Her oxygen saturation dipped down to…
Articles Posted in Hospital Negligence
$23.13 Million Verdict Entered for Brain Damage Caused by Untimely Blood Transfusion to Newborn
Rebecca Kerrins, 38, was admitted to Palos Community Hospital in the Chicago suburb to deliver her second child. Following labor, she reported feeling a gush of blood. This was later diagnosed as a placental abruption. Because of the placental abruption, her daughter lost up to 60% of her blood supply…
$46.5 Million Jury Verdict for Failure to Diagnose, Treat Jaundice of Newborn
Kara Smalls was delivered by way of a Cesarean section surgery at Ouachita County Medical Center. Two hours after her birth, Kara’s bilirubin level was 5.5, which is an indication of high risk of hyperbilirubinemia. Hyperbilirubinemia is a condition in a newborn in which there is too much bilirubin in…
State Supreme Court Affirms Trial Court’s Decision Concerning Challenge of Juror Disqualification for Bias
An appeal from the Circuit Court of Franklin County, Mo., ended up in the Missouri Supreme Court on the issue of a disqualifying motion of a juror who was alleged to have been biased. This was a medical malpractice lawsuit against Mercy Hospitals. On March 13, 2013, the plaintiffs, Thaddeus…
$6.07 Million Jury Verdict Entered in Failure to Treat Preeclampsia That Resulted in Mother’s Death
Karla Fountaine received prenatal care from a general practitioner, the defendant Dr. Cheryl Gill. At the time, she was 34 years old. During her pregnancy, she developed gestational diabetes. When she began bleeding and suffering from increased blood pressure and headache, she was admitted to a hospital but shortly thereafter…
$3.2 Million Settlement Reached for Brain Damaged Child for Failure to Diagnose Herpes
Vonshelle Brothers received her prenatal care, including a Pap smear, at the Brevard County Health Department. A cytopathologist allegedly interpreted the Pap smear as having cellular changes consistent with the herpes simplex virus. However, a health department nurse reported that the test was normal. Her obstetrician did not look at…
Jury Verdict Reversed When Juror Should Have Been Disqualified for Bias
In this medical malpractice case, an appeal was taken by the plaintiff after a jury verdict was entered in favor of the defendant, Mercy Hospitals East, claiming that the trial court abused its discretion. The claim was made that the court chose not to strike for cause a venireperson after…
Choosing Not to Timely Diagnose Fetal Abnormalities Leads to $1.4 Million Cook County Jury Verdict
Irena Dujmovic-Terman was seven weeks pregnant when she began prenatal care with the defendant obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Elliot Levine on Feb. 1, 2008. She was 37 years old at the time. Because of her advanced maternal age, Dr. Levine recommended genetic testing for fetal anomalies. The patient agreed at…
$10.14 Million Jury Verdict to Child Whose Bacterial Meningitis Was Missed
Shamir Tillery was 11 months old when he went to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia emergency room. Shamir was suffering from fever and breathing difficulties. The hospital and emergency room staff diagnosed an upper respiratory infection or pneumonia and sent him home. The next day, Shamir was returned to the…
Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Doctrine of Apparent Authority in Medical Negligence Lawsuit
Christina Yarbrough and David Goodpaster brought a medical negligence lawsuit against Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation (NMFF) after the premature birth of their daughter, Hayley Joe Goodpaster. This case came to the Illinois Appellate Court by the request of NMH regarding the doctrine of apparent authority…