Date of Incident: December 6, 2002
Injuries: Anoxic asphyxic brain injury at birth.
Settlement: $8,000,000.00 (total)
$4,000,000 (policy limits) Dr. X, and his OB/GYN clinic
$1,000,000 (policy limit) Nurse Y, and Nurse Staffing Company
$3,000,000 Hospital Z
The net proceeds were divided between Baby Joe Doe and his parents, Jane Doe and John Doe (loss of consortium and care expenses). A Special Needs Trust for Baby Joe Doe was set up and approved by the Court for the purpose of preserving his access to public healthcare benefits. The parents unfortunately divorced, with the wife, Jane Doe, moving to Texas and the father, John Doe, assuming full care responsibilities for Baby Joe Doe.
Report Submitted By: Ron Perey
Facts:
This medical malpractice case involved the profound anoxic brain injury suffered by Baby Joe Doe at birth. Plaintiff parents of Joe Doe had been married for 5 years and were 37 and 40 years old respectively when they became pregnant with Baby Joe Doe in 2002. Having experienced infertility issues for several years, this pregnancy was the result of in vitro fertilization with a donor egg. The whole process took over a year and cost over $10,000. Both parents were elated over the pregnancy.
The mother, Jane Doe, received her prenatal care from Dr. X, and when the mother went into labor on December 6, 2002, he was the physician on call for the day. Early in labor, everything went well. However, as the mother approached the pushing stage, Baby Joe Doe’ heart rate began to have recurrent decelerations which did not return to baseline, indicative of intermittent cord compression, that persisted with virtually every contraction and worsened as time went on. Dr. X and Nurse Y were aware of these decelerations, but did not appreciate their significance and never informed the family, nor made any effort to expedite the delivery, even though the baby was no longer descending the birth canal. At one point the mother requested a C-section, not because she knew anything was happening with her baby, but because she was exhausted after pushing with no progress. This request was declined.
Dr. X did enter the labor room and rotate the baby's head at 10:20 p.m., but then he left to attend to a triage patient who was being discharged home. At 10:51 p.m., after 3-1/2 hours of persistent, worsening heart rate decelerations the baby's reserve was exhausted and his heart rate no longer returned to the normal range. Dr. X returned to the delivery room and moved the mother to the operating room, but instead to moving toward an immediate C-section, he wasted valuable time making a couple of attempts at vacuum extraction, which failed. Baby Joe Doe was finally delivered by emergency C-section at 11:20 p.m. at which time he was blue, limp and lifeless. He was resuscitated, but had suffered profound brain damage. Baby Joe Doe was permanently and severely injured. He has a trachesotomy, is tube-fed and hydrated. He will not walk, talk, or enjoy life as he should have if his birth had been appropriately managed.
County: King County, Washington
Trial Judge: Mary Yu
Special Master: Honorable Larry Jordan (Ret.)
Judge Julie Spector appointed retired judge Larry Jordan as Special Master to rule on discovery related motions because of the contentious conflict amongst counsel
Plaintiffs: Baby Joe Doe, John Doe (father), Jane Doe (mother).
(Confidential Settlement).
Defendants: Dr. OB/GYN X, Nurse Y, Nurse Staffing Company Y, Hospital Z. (Confidential Settlement).
Trial date: March 7, 2005
Date of Settlement: March 10, 2005 (4th day of trial, just prior to jury selection)
Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Ron Perey, Thomas V. Harris and Doug Weinmaster
Perey~Harris, Seattle, Washington
Defendants’ Attorneys: Confidential
Plaintiffs’ Experts: Harlan Giles, M.D., Sewicky, PA, (OB/GYN); Lynn Montgomery, M.D., Missoula, MT (OB/GYN); Lynn Brengman, R.N., Bellingham, WA (OB Nursing); Karen Pleva, R.N., Willimington, NC (Labor and delivery nursing); Dieter Enzmann, M.D., Los Angeles, CA (Pediatric Neuroradiology); Robert McDowell, M.D., Bethesda, MD (Neonatology); Anthony J. Choppa, M.Ed., Bothell, WA (Life care planner); Lowell Bassett, Ph.D., Seattle, WA (Economist).
Defendants’ Experts: Thomas Garite, M.D., Orange, CA (Maternal-fetal, OB/GYN); Elizabeth Sanford, M.D., Tacoma, WA (OB/GYN); Cheryl Nail, R.N., Seattle, WA (Labor and delivery nursing); Leslee Goetz, R.N., Pittsburgh, PA (Labor and delivery nursing); Robert Zimmerman, M.D., New York, NY (Placental pathology); Frank Boehm, M.D., Nashville, TN (Obstetrics/nursing); Michael Painter, M.D., Pittsburgh, PA (Obstetrics/perinatology); Steven Donn, M.D., Ann Arbor, MI (Neonatology); Thomas Collins, M.D., Seattle, WA (Neonatology – Defense Medical Examiner); Richard Carroll, San Francisco, CA (Annuities).
Guardian ad Litem: William L. Dussault, Esq., Guardian ad Litem and Settlement Guardian
Mediators: Judge Charles Burdell (Ret.), (failed mediation 1/10/05).
Judge Jack Rosnow (Ret.), (failed mediation 2/25/5).
Date of Incident: December 6, 2002.
Admitted Liability: No. Liability contested.
Summary Judgment: N/A
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