Cerebral palsy is a medical condition that often occurs before birth, during birth or soon after. The condition occurs when a baby’s developing brain suffers injury due to lack of oxygen. The condition can occur in numerous ways, and the severity of life-long symptoms can vary depending on circumstances surrounding the injury. Massachusetts parents may be interested in one family’s recent medical negligence lawsuit that has resulted in a $130 million judgment.
Although the child was born before its due date, the child was medically stable to be discharged to home within 48 hours of its birth. Within two weeks of its birth, physicians discovered the child’s kidneys were swollen, and it was diagnosed with a condition called hydronephrosis. By the time the baby was two months old, physicians also diagnosed the child with lupus. Following some tests and radiology scans, physicians were confident that the baby’s heart was not affected by lupus or its kidney swelling. Physicians ordered a renal scan that required a small amount of radioactive dye to be injected into the baby’s intravenous line.
According to the lawsuit, the mother claims that her baby turned blue shortly after the baby’s intravenous line was started. Claims were also made in the lawsuit that a code was not called, a pulse was never checked and heart compressions were never given, but rescue breaths were given to the child. Lawyers for the mother argued that the response to the baby’s crisis contributed to the baby’s current diagnosis of cerebral palsy. A jury agreed and awarded the parents $130 million for documented losses and future medical care.
It is understandably difficult to watch a child suffer. It is unfathomable to understand the emotions and stress parents feel when they learn their child has suffered as a result of medical negligence. Massachusetts attorneys can explain to parents their options for legal recourse after examining the evidence of a case.
