New York Injury Lawyers Blog

A New York jury awarded $485,000 in a medical malpractice lawsuit to a 4-year-old child who suffers from a mild palsy as a result of an injury that occurred at birth. Jayden Bennet sustained an Erb's palsy of his right arm during the first two years of his life. The condition limited the arm's strength and mobility.

Jayden's mother, Lizzette Cain, asserted the claims on behalf of her son. She contended that the palsy was caused by traction applied to the boy's head during delivery. The traction was applied to relieve entrapment of his right shoulder. Ms. Cain further argued that a Caesarean delivery was the more prudent option given the child's size. The delivering obstetrician countered that due to the totality of the signs and symptoms present, a vaginal delivery was appropriate.

Website Resource:

VerdictSearch.com, June 3, 2010.

A $5.2 million settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving the wrongful death of a woman during childbirth was recently approved by the New York State Supreme Court. The woman died from internal bleeding after a poorly performed Caesarean procedure.

The decedent, Diane McCable, was admitted Albany Medical Center Hospital in labor on September 3, 2007. After ten hours of labor, Dr. Cheryl Burack decided Ms. McCable needed a C-section, but passed her care off to Dr. Sean Yong-Il Lee. After performing the procedure, Dr. Lee allegedly ignored multiple calls from the attending physician saying that McCable may have severe internal bleeding. By the time Lee did get back to McCable to attempt to stop the bleeding, it was too late. In the settlement, Lee will pay $2.3 million, Burack $1.9 million and Albany Medical $1 million.

In addition to the monetary settlement, the agreement requires that Albany Medical fund a series of lectures focusing on topics related to enhancing patient safety. It also requires the hospital to buy a maternal and neonatal simulator to be used in staff training on the labor and delivery unit. Further, the settlement requires that procedures regarding the use of a machine that monitors a patient's vital signs during childbirth be changed.

Website Resource:

$5.2M benefit can't heal loss, Paul Grondahl, Albany Time Union, April 3, 2010.

Diego Baizan, an infant, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York County through his parents for the alleged failure of an OBGYN and staff at St. John's Riverside Hospital to properly monitor the fetal heart rate and perform a timely Caesarean section. Diego is now 3 years old and suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Dr. Shahram Razman, the OBGYN involved in the delivery, settled the matter pre-suit for $2.1 million. The case proceeded against St. John's Hospital.

The NY jury returned a verdict in favor of the infant-plaintiff for a total of $77 million ($3,000,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering; $6,132,880 Personal Injury: future medical cost (68 years); $40,190,509 Personal Injury: future cost of custodial and residential care (68 years); $3,184,960 Personal Injury: future cost of rehabilitation (18 years); $20,000,000 Personal Injury: future pain and suffering (68 years); $4,910,321 Personal Injury: future lost earnings (38 years))

The plaintiffs' claimed that nursing staff at the hospital ignored signs of fetal distress, which resulted in a delay of almost an hour before commencing a vaginal delivery. Plaintiffs further contended that as a result of the delay, Diego sustained a hypoxic event that caused brain damage. During the first few hours of his life, he suffered seizures and the administration of oxygen was required.

Defense counsel for the hospital and hospital experts argued that Diego's injuries occurred prior to his mother's arrival at the hospital. The hospital has moved to reduce or set aside the verdict.

In Abdelkader v Shahine, a Kings (Brooklyn) County jury found the defendant obstetrician liable for injuries, namely an Erb's Palsy suffered by the infant-plaintiff, Laila Abdelkader. Erb's palsy is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the the arm's main nerves at spinal roots C5-C7. The injury allegedly resulted from the medical malpractice of the defendant physician in connection with the obstetrical care administered during the infant-plaintiff's birth on July 2, 1997.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $300,000 for past pain and suffering and $500,000 for future pain and suffering. The Second Department reduced the verdict to $150,000.00 for past pain and suffering and $400,000.00 for future pain and suffering. The Second Department found the original award to be "excessive" and reasoned that the original award "deviated from what would be reasonable compensation."