$8.25 Million Jury Verdict in Medical Malpractice Case

A Pennsylvania jury has awarded an $8.25 Million verdict against the anesthesiologist who administered a massive dose of morphine to a 4-year-old child following a routine outpatient surgery. The doctor discharged the child home only 34 minutes after giving him the huge amount of opiates and failed to inform the child’s parents that he had received drugs that could make it difficult for him to breathe. Berman & Simmons medical malpractice attorneys Elizabeth Kayatta and Chuck Hehmeyer represented the boy’s parents, who brought the lawsuit on behalf of their injured son.

After being given the huge amount of opiates, the child fell asleep in his car seat on the ride home and went into respiratory depression, causing his brain to go without enough oxygen.  When the boy’s parents realized they could not wake up their son, they rushed him back to the hospital, where he received multiple doses of Narcan and was emergently transferred to the pediatric ICU at the nearest major medical center.  An MRI scan revealed he had sustained hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE)—a type of brain damage that occurs from the lack of sufficient oxygen.  He remained hospitalized for 8 weeks and had to relearn how to walk and use his hands.

Long-term, the child’s brain injury left him with permanent visual-processing deficits known as “cortical visual impairment.”  Cortical visual impairment (also known as cerebral visual impairment) is caused by hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and other traumatic brain injuries in newborn babies, children, and adults.  The condition manifests as visual impairment due to damage to the visual-processing centers of the brain. Because people with cortical visual impairment (CVI) often have difficulty interpreting facial expressions and recognizing social cues, the condition is often misdiagnosed as autism.  To educate the jury on CVI and its far-reaching life impacts, Attorneys Kayatta and Hehmeyer presented the testimony of Dr. Christine Roman, one of the world’s foremost experts in assessing the functional visual deficits associated with CVI.

The unanimous verdict came after the jury deliberated for 5 hours after a three-week trial.  The jury heard evidence from twenty different expert witnesses, including specialists in anesthesiology, neurology, ophthalmology, developmental pediatrics, neuro-radiology, genetics, peri-anesthesia nursing, and life care planning.  The jury’s $8.25 Million award to the boy includes damages for past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost future earnings.

“Nothing can undo the harm that was done to this little boy, but the money awarded by the jury will secure his future and ensure that he has the level of care and support that he needs moving forward,” says Attorney Elizabeth Kayatta of the verdict. “The jury’s unanimous decision demonstrates the public’s strong desire that healthcare providers be held accountable for their preventable medical errors.”

Attorneys Kayatta and Hehmeyer have been called upon to handle some of the most complex medical malpractice and personal injury cases across Maine and beyond.  This latest trial victory is one of many outstanding results that each has achieved for Berman & Simmons.