The toddler’s reality is like the darkest of nightmares. Just three years old, she is blind, suffers from infant seizures, and is fed through a tube into her stomach. She will never walk. She will never speak. She will never be able to take care of herself.
Her grim reality is due to a doctor’s negligence during the girl’s birth in 2012, a judge in a medical malpractice trial recently ruled, according to a Kentucky newspaper. She has been awarded $9.6 million in the case; her mother is to receive $250,000 for the emotional distress she endured during delivery.
How much are the girl’s devastating injuries worth? Obviously, there is no dollar amount that can adequately compensate her for what she has lost and for what her life will be like. But the compensation will enable her family to give her the 24/7 nursing care the little girl requires.
The doctor waited too long to deliver the girl by C-section in a California hospital, a federal judge in Sacramento ruled. Even though the evidence showed that the baby’s heart rate was deteriorating, and that the mother would not be able to have a vaginal delivery, the doctor waited. His negligence resulted in severe, incurable brain injuries that mean lifelong disabilities, but also a significantly truncated lifespan, the Lexington Herald Leader reported.
Because the doctor worked at a federally funded hospital, the U.S. was held liable for his negligence, the Fresno Bee said.
These kinds of horrific birth injuries cannot be undone, but at least the victim can be cared for as she needs and deserves. That fact alone might give her family some peace.
A conversation with an experienced Covington medical malpractice attorney at The Lawrence Firm, PSC can also help families here struggling to cope with overwhelming medical and financial burdens. Such a discussion can help you understand your options in your unique circumstances.