Infant Born at Sacramento Kaiser Hospital Has Permanent Brain Damage, Part 4 of 4

The following blog is provided as an example of a Kaiser medical malpractice lawsuit to aid potential clients in how a lawsuit is examined and conduced. It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

Plaintiffs further alleged that, if the infant had been properly monitored and given supplemental formula feedings, his blood sugar would not have dropped to a level low enough to cause brain damage.

Defendants contended that their care met the required standard in all respects. Defendants further contended that the infant was feeding well at the breast, as documented by the records and the testimony of the nurses and the infant’s grandmother, and that the infant’s hypoglycemia was due to an unpredictable, transient metabolic abnormality rather than to inadequate oral intake.

CLAIMED INJURIES

According to Plaintiff: Brain lesion; failure to develop normally; seizures; 24-hour tube feeding; emotional distress.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.


CLAIMED DAMAGES

According to Plaintiff: $19,000,000 future medical (per plaintiffs); $1.45 million loss of earnings (per plaintiffs); $2,000,000 future medical (per defendants); $500,000 loss of earnings (per defendants).

SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS

According to Plaintiff: No settlement offer was made by Kaiser.

COMMENTS

According to Plaintiff: The challenges in this case arose from (1) the entries in the medical records and the testimony of the Kaiser nurses and the infant’s grandmother to the effect that breast-feeding was successful during most of the relevant period of time, (2) the fact that neonatal hypoglycemia that is related to maternal gestational diabetes typically occurs during the first 24 hours of life, which was not the case here, (3) plaintiff’s somewhat inconsistent recollection of some of the relevant time frames, and (4) medical literature indicating that breast-fed babies commonly do not receive much actual intake during the first two days of life and that the anecdotal case reports, such as after hurricane Katrina, seemed to indicate that newborn babies can survive without injury for several days without any oral intake.

SUMMARY:
Verdict/Judgment: Arbitration
Verdict/Judgment Amount: $9,629,246
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Contact Information