Sometimes doctors’ negligence in New York causes a person to suffer serious and permanent injuries. In a situation of alleged medical malpractice, the reportedly careless doctor may be held accountable through the legal system. One family in a recent out-of-state case received a jury award of about $30 million after their baby suffered permanent and severe neurological injuries.
The family filed a suit against a total of six doctors who were involved in the birth of a girl, now 11. However, one of the doctors was removed from the suit, and the jury determined that four others–all physician residents–did not provide negligent care. The jury ultimately determined that one doctor was negligent by not appropriately caring for and treating the girl and her mother when the mother went to the hospital to give birth.
The baby was ultimately delivered through a C-section, but she suffered oxygen deprivation and had to be resuscitated afterwards. The girl currently cannot talk or walk. She also has to be fed via a gastric tube and is legally blind. The girl additionally has a tracheotomy, which is an opening created via her neck into her windpipe to create an airway as well as to remove lung secretions. The tube has to be suctioned several times an hour.
Whenever a person in New York is injured because a doctor failed to exercise a reasonable degree of care in tending to him or her, this individual has the right to file a medical malpractice suit against the doctor, seeking damages. The money awarded in a successful case may help to address mental pain and suffering as well as compensate the injured party for disfigurement, anxiety, the loss of the enjoyment of life or other items of general damages appropriate in the particular case. Financial damages may also help to cover medical bills associated with the document incident of medical malpractice.
Source: masslive.com, “Jury awards nearly $30 million to Holyoke family, says doctor’s negligence caused baby’s permanent brain damage“, Buffy Spencer, Feb. 5, 2016
