The birth of a child can be one of the most exhilarating and emotional times in any parent's life. When things do not go as planned, however, the family's hopes and dreams for their child can be shattered. It can feel even more heartbreaking if the baby suffers a birth injury as a result of doctor or hospital negligence.
That is, unfortunately, what happened to a Baltimore couple during the birth of their son Enzo in 2010. The couple had planned to have the baby at home with the help of a midwife. When the baby became stuck in the birth canal, however, it became necessary to go to the hospital for an emergency cesarean section.
Despite the urgency, however, the mother and her unborn baby waited for two hours before the C-section was performed. According to a jury's findings, that delay deprived the unborn baby of oxygen, leaving him with brain damage, a seizure disorder and cerebral palsy.
The hospital denied any negligence, arguing that any oxygen deprivation occurred at home under the auspices of the midwife. The parents emphatically disagreed.
The mother told reporters that, as soon as she arrived at the hospital, she had a gut feeling that "something went wrong." When her son was born, he suffered repeated seizures and she could not get the hospital staff to explain why. It would take months to determine the cause and the full extent of Enzo's injuries. He is now substantially physically and mentally disabled.
The couple then filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of their son, citing hospital negligence as the cause of their son's disabilities.
The lawsuit resulted in a record-setting jury verdict of $55 million — one of the largest ever in a Maryland medical malpractice case. The jury awarded $25 million for Enzo's future medical expenses and a life-care plan, along with $4 million in estimated future lost earnings. They also awarded the child $26 million in non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
The amount allowed for non-economic damages was by the state's medical malpractice cap to reduced to $665,000, however. The jury award will be held in trust for Enzo's care and wellbeing.
"I don't know what was going on in their brains," Enzo's mother told reporters after the verdict was announced, "and I don't know what was going on behind the scenes, and I don't know what was going on with other patients, but whatever it was that went wrong…I hope that it was at least a wake-up call or a learning experience, and it doesn't happen again."
The hospital plans to appeal the jury's award.
Source: The Baltimore Sun, "Jury awards Waverly family $55 million in Hopkins malpractice case," Yvonne Wenger and Kevin Rector, June 26, 2012