Jury Awards $38.8 Million In C-Section Malpractice Case

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Posted on 13th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A case involving a too common malpractice situation, a newborn sustaining brain damage at birth, has resulted in a jury awarding $38.8 million in damages.

Such a large verdict should be noted for the record, but there were not many details provided in the press release about the case. http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=266757&cat=10

The jury verdict stemmed from a case where the failure to perform a C-section resulted in a newborn sustaining brain injury.

The press release provided by the Orlando, Fla.-based law firm that won the case, Morgan & Morgan, doesn’t name its clients or say where the verdict was rendered or against whom.

“Delayed C-sections, in cases where the standard of care dictates that the operation be performed, are serious acts of medical negligence than can result in irreversible injury to the baby, such as cerebral palsy and serious brain damage,” the press release says.

Clinical Trial To Study Stem Cells’ Impact on Cerebral Palsy

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Posted on 17th February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Can stem cells help damaged brain cells recover? That’s the question that researchers will address in a new clinical trial.

The Medical College of Georgia is looking to find out if stem cells from umbilical cords can help kids with cerebral palsy, according to UPI.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/02/15/Cerebral-palsy-stem-cell-trial-begins/UPI-57571266270159/

A lack of oxygen to the brain, as well as brain damage, cause cerebral palsy.

The college is touting its study as the first such trial to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The research will involve 40 children, 2 to 12. Their parents have core blood stored at the Core Blood Registry in Tucson, Ariz.

There have been studies on animals that indicate that stem cells did help damaged brain cells recover and even replace dead brains cells.

Stem cells, found in umbilical cord blood, change into different kinds of cells around the body.

It remains to be seen if they will provide a real aid to those with cerebral palsy. For more on cerebral palsy go to http://cerebral-palsy-medicalmalpractice.com

Minnesota Sees Record $23.2 Million Malpractice Award In Botched Birth Case

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Posted on 12th February 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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In what appears to be a record verdict in Minnesota for a medical malpractice case, a jury has awarded $23.2 million to a family whose baby suffered numerous complications during her birth, resulting in brain damage and cerebral palsy. http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/150693/

The verdict came Tuesday in the case stemming from the June 6, 2007 birth of Kylie Rodgers, daughter of Elise Rodgers and Matthew Larson, at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, Minn.

During her delivery Kylie didn’t get enough oxygen, and as a result she now has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, neurological problems and seizures. For more on cerebral palsy, click here.

The doctor who delivered the baby, Dr. Gabrielle Olson, had been dropped as a defendant in the case. She was with Affiliated Community Medical Centers (ACMC), and was considered to be acting as an agent of the medical center.

The jury in Kandiyohi Count District Court found that ACMC was 80 percent negligent in the case, and that Rice Memorial was 20 percent negligent.

The malpractice award broke down to $1.7 million for Kylie’s past medical care; $10 million for future care and emotional distress; and $1.5 million for loss of earning capacity.

The ACMC and hospital may appeal the verdict.

The Minnesota Hospital Association said this was the highest award in its memory, with the largest one it was familiar with coming in at $11 million.

Doctors: infection led to Turkish newborn deaths

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Posted on 22nd September 2008 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 9/22/2008 2:18 PM

By SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press Writer

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ An infection spread by IV treatment led to the weekend deaths of 13 premature newborns at a hospital in western Turkey, a doctor investigating the deaths told the private Dogan news agency Monday.

The deaths drove the number of babies killed by infections in Turkey to at least 40 in three months.

In July, more than 27 newborns died of an infection at a hospital for high-risk births in the capital, Ankara. Government-appointed doctors investigating the deaths said a staff shortage had increased the risk of infection.

Recep Ozturk, a doctor at Istanbul’s Cerrahpasa University Hospital, said preliminary results indicated that IV-spread infection caused the latest deaths at Izmir’s Tepecik hospital Saturday and early Sunday, Dogan reported. Ozturk, who spoke on behalf of the group of doctors investigating the case, said the infection appeared to be spread by intravenous solution, Dogan reported.

A local prosecutor was investigating whether neglect may have been a factor.

Izmir health department head Mehmet Ozkan said the hospital believed the babies were not neglected. Tepecik hospital was caring for 41 newborns overnight Saturday. After the 13 deaths, the unit was placed under quarantine and no new babies have been admitted. The hospital has 30 incubators and can accommodate 45 infants.

The bodies of three babies buried over the weekend were being exhumed to help with the investigation, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Hospitals in small towns in Turkey generally lack specialized premature birth units, and high-risk or premature babies are often taken to larger hospitals in cities such Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir.

Health workers unions say, however, that the larger hospitals are often understaffed or ill-equipped to care for large numbers of newborns.

“These unfortunate deaths are very saddening,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “There may have been neglect, this will become clear after the investigation.”

“Premature births constitute a high risk, and this may have played a part, too,” he said.

Turkey’s infant mortality rate is relatively high, at 23.66 in 1,000 in 2005, compared with that of its EU-member neighbor Greece, where 3.8 newborns out of 1,000 died the same year, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Child welfare worker charged in baby’s death

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Posted on 17th July 2008 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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7/2008 03:18 PM

By SUSAN HAIGH
Associated Press Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ An employee of the state Department of Children and Families has been charged in the death of a 7-month-old foster child in her care, prompting the agency to seek her dismissal.

State police charged Suzanne Listro, 40, of Mansfield, with manslaughter Wednesday in the May 19 death of Michael Brown Jr., who suffered a blunt trauma head injury at her home. At a court appearance Thursday, a judge set bond at $1 million.

“We don’t expect her to be posting bond today,” her attorney, Matthew Potter, said Thursday. He declined to comment further.

Listro, a children’s services consultant for the department, received a foster care provider’s license earlier this year, despite having been investigated twice within the past two years on allegations she abused another child she adopted, said the agency’s commissioner, Susan Hamilton. The allegations were not substantiated.

Listro has been placed on unpaid leave, and Hamilton is seeking to have her fired.

The agency will start requiring an outside firm to review agency employees who want to be foster parents.

Hamilton said she also plans to dismiss a department investigator who handled the two previous abuse probes in 2006 and 2007 involving Listro and her adopted child. She called those investigations “substandard and unacceptable.”

A manager who approved both investigations will be suspended for 20 days, Hamilton said.

Because the alleged abuse was unsubstantiated, Listro’s name was not listed in the automated child abuse and neglect registry when she was being investigated for a foster care license, Hamilton said.

“Although it’s impossible to determine whether this information would have changed the licensing decision, it’s clear that it should have been easily accessible to the licensing staff,” Hamilton said
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