Posted on March 28, 2008 by David Austin
In this settlement, people with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy and Mental Retardation will be moved to homes and apartments and will not be required to live in nursing homes. They will also have staff and services made available to them as part of the settlement.
The state has reached an agreement in a long-standing class action lawsuit involving disabled people seeking to live outside nursing homes.
The agreement in the suit, initially filed in U.S. District Court in Springfield in 1998, will mean more than 600 people will be moved out of nursing homes in Massachusetts to apartments, group homes or their own residences and will have support staff available. The agreement is similar to one reached in 1999, which resulted in more than 1,000 people were placed in the community over several years, according to the state.
Source: MassLive.com
Posted on February 1, 2008 by David Austin
An arbitration panel has awarded a $3.2 million verdict to a family.
Kaiser Permanente is paying $3.2 million to a 14-year-old Lake Forest girl who wasn't breathing and suffered brain damage when delivered by Caesarean section.
The birthing malpractice settlement was reached this month after a binding arbitration decision in favor of the family of Ariana Ehtemam.
Court documents show the girl now suffers physical and behavioral problems. The $3.2 million has purchased an annuity worth $20 million over her lifetime. She will receive the first payment at 18.
Source: SignOnSanDiego.com
Posted on January 30, 2008 by David Austin
Here is a quick quote from a well written article covering the recent reprimand of two doctors relating to a birth injury on Virginia.
For the first time in 20 years, the state's medical board has administratively punished two doctors who gained immunity from suit in catastrophic, birth-injury cases.
...
In hearings last week, two Northern Virginia obstetricians -- Dr. Evelyn Anna Ruelaz of Fairfax County and Dr. Regina Burton of Woodbridge -- received formal reprimands for their handling of births that resulted in devastating, lifelong injuries to infants during delivery.
The reprimands become part of a doctor's permanent record and appear on a physician's public profile at www.vahealthprovider.com/search.asp, where they are expected to appear in several days. They carry no monetary penalty and do not affect a doctor's ability to practice.
Read the Full article here: InRich.com
Posted on December 6, 2007 by David Austin
Another Cerebral Palsy settlement from another country. This one has some great quotes though from the parents.
The parents of an 11-year-old London girl awarded £6.5 million after hospital blunders left her severely brain damaged today told of their relief that her future is now taken care of.
Melissa Salamanca, of Brockley, was born with jaundice and could have escaped harm if either the hospital or a midwife had spotted the seriousness of the situation, the High Court heard. She was sent home from hospital the same day and suffered blood poisoning which left her with cerebral palsy.
Diego and Maria Salamanca, both 34, said the legal fight for a settlement had dominated their lives. Mrs Salamanca said: "It has been going on for a very long time. It has become our life. It is a fair amount for the amount of care Melissa will need for the rest of her life. I can pass away very peacefully knowing that her future is secure.
"Money will not put my daughter back to normal but it might make her life more comfortable." (emphasis added)
I also like the comment by the doctor at the base of the article. He is exactly right. Making disciplinary actions public will go a long way to improving medical care and educating the public about the medical care choices.
Article:
"Brain-damaged daughter" from the Evening Standard
Posted on December 1, 2007 by David Austin
Here is a great discussion of a $4.2 Million dollar fee in a medical malpractice case that settled for $12.7 million. It sounds like this particular solicitor came into a case late and provided excellent representation.
Mr. Justice Robert Smith has released a significant decision in which he has considered the issue of contingency fees charged to persons under a legal disability. He approved legal fees of $4.2 million in a medical malpractice case that settled for about $12.5 million. His Honour held that while it is up to the court to approve contingency fee arrangements with disabled plaintiffs, “substantial weight” should be given to such agreements where they have been entered into by a sophisticated party who considered and weighed the risks involved and acted in the best interests of the child.
Please go read the full Blog post over at CavanaghWilliams.com. It is a well put together post. Alternatively you can access the court's opinion at this link.
Posted on November 30, 2007 by David Austin
Occasionally I will post about a cerebral palsy settlement. I don't do it all that often, but two articles today. One from Australia and one from the UK that I also wanted to post. Why? Well, I merely wanted to raise awareness that cerebral palsy lawsuits or settlements or whatever are not just an American creation. They happen all over the world. The legal systems just deal with them differently.
This settlement from the UK.
This one from Australia
Hospital Admits to Drug Folly
Posted on October 30, 2007 by David Austin
This case is from Maine. It is a $8 Million verdict against Central Maine Medical Center. Here is the quote from the article.
A jury in Auburn, Maine last week awarded nearly $8 million to a brain-damaged 5-year-old boy and his mother in their medical malpractice lawsuit against a Lewiston hospital and one of its midwives.
...
Emond, who was 16 at the time Odysseus was born in April 2002, claimed that her midwife and Central Maine Medical Center should have recommended an emergency cesarean section when her baby appeared to be in fetal distress.
The baby was born with cerebral palsy due to lack of blood and oxygen to his brain.
It was a two week trial and the jury deliberated for 2 days before getting this result.
Source: Insurance Journal
Posted on October 9, 2007 by David Austin
There only a short amount of information on this Cerebral Palsy lawsuit in Illinois that resulted in a $12 million dollar verdict. From what I can gather from the brief article it appears to be a case that resulted from a failure to see the signs of oxygen deprivation.
A DuPage County jury has granted a $12 million medical malpractice award to the family of a seven-year-old Warrenville boy crippled at birth.
... 45-minute delay during the ... birth that deprived him of oxygen and caused his disability.
Source is The Daily Journal
Posted on March 23, 2006 by David Austin
The Commonwealth of Virginia has an injury program that is designed to reduce the amount of lawsuits that come from birth injuries. The basic idea is that you provide a system that agrees to pay for treatment of the birth injury and in return you as the injured person (or parent) give up the right to sue the doctor or the hospital.
In Virginia the fund that provides this treatment is seriously underfunded to the tune of $100 million or so.
Critics of this fund claim that the fund administrators are denying benefits because of the shortage of money. This link is to a series of articles about one family's battle to get benefits for their child.
Source: Times Dispatch
Posted on May 12, 2005 by David Austin
The NY Court of Appeals has held that a mother cannot recover damages for the emotional distress she suffered as a result of giving birth to a disabled child.
This case grew out of a ruling in NY last year that allowed a mother to sue for emotional distress when her baby was stillborn or she miscarried. The reasoning used then was: There was no other way to hold the medical professional liable under then New York Law if the baby died because of malpractice. That case is Broadnax v. Gonzalez and Fahey v. Canino, 2 NY3d 148 (2004)
But the court said Tuesday that when the child is born alive and can bring a malpractice action for injuries that occurred in the womb, post-birth damages are available only to the infant.
Therefore the mother has no independent claim.
You can read the case here: Sheppard-Mobley v. King
Source: Yahoo and Law.com
Posted on May 11, 2005 by David Austin
A report out of Boston, MA today. A Suffolk County jury has determined that the damages owed to this family are $23.8 Million for cerebral palsy. The case involved obstetricians from Mass General Hospital.
www.wrgb.com
Posted on May 3, 2005 by David Austin
An article from the Greeley Tribune concerning a birth injury trial in the Fort Collins area of Colorado.
Full Article: Tearful mother tells about birth of daughter
Posted on March 31, 2005 by David Austin
The idea was to mirror Virginia and Florida. In these states the state basically runs a fund that provides some level of care for brain injured children. Maryland legislators have apparently decided not to pursue this idea.
Why? To much money. The Virginia program is in debt and appears to have some difficulty meeting its obligations. Why? Well the first reason is that providing care for cerebral palsy or other brain damaged patients is very high. A lifetime of care for cerebral palsy malpractice victims can run in the millions of dollrs.
Source: Richmond Times Dispatch
Posted on February 22, 2005 by David Austin
You may or may not know what a Statute of Limitation is. For those that don't here you go.
Whenever you have been injured, you are given a certain amount of time to file a lawsuit. The amount of time you have varies widely depending on what state you are in or what law is being applied. The amount of time you have can be a few months to many years. If you miss that time period, then you may never be able to file.
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