San Diego Family Receives Largest Medical Malpractice Settlement in California History
$500,000 Verdict to Middle School Principal After Botched Surgery
April 7, 2016Plaintiff Support Returns from Another Successful Mass Torts Made Perfect Seminar
May 18, 2016Helen Jones
Executive Vice President
In January of 2013, a San Diego mother gave birth to a baby girl five weeks prematurely. Four days later, negligence on part of the hospital staff caused the infant to be permanently injured.
When the mother, Connie, went to the newborn ICU to check on her daughter, Sophia, she discovered Sophia to be “pale and lifeless.” A puddle of water was found on the floor, which was determined to be a leak from the baby’s feeding bag. According to Connie, Sophia’s diaper was “soaked, as if a pitcher of water had been poured in it.”
According to the family’s attorney, nursing error caused the injury to the child. The hospital staff accidentally overloaded the infant’s feeding tube, which damaged Sophia’s internal organs. The attorney further claimed, “the machine was not calibrated or put on correctly, so that certain amounts of food went into [the] child. The child was overloaded with glucose, which caused an electrolyte imbalance. That changed the composition of the blood such that oxygen can’t get to the brain.”
Sophia survived, though suffers from cerebral palsy and struggles to walk and speak. She is now three years old and will require medical care for the rest of her life.
After filing suit, the case settled for a reported $20 million—the largest medical malpractice settlement in California history. The family hopes that this settlement will lead hospitals to institute additional safeguards and procedures so that this type of incident will not happen again.
Due to a confidentiality clause, the name of the hospital was not provided.
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