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The MEDLAW Legal Team Recovers $3.7 Million Jury Verdict
in Cerebral Palsy / Medical Malpractice Case
On April 14, 2005, a South Carolina jury awarded
Lisa and Damon Viele, and their daughter Elizabeth $3.7 million dollars to
compensate them for Elizabeth's cerebral palsy injuries that she suffered at
birth following Lisa's doctor's failure to perform a timely delivery.
On September 18, 1999, Lisa Viele was admitted to Toumey Regional Medical Center
for induction of labor. It was to be her first child. She and her husband Damon
were excited about the prospect of becoming parents for the first time. Lisa was
given Pitocin, a drug that makes the contractions more intense and Cytotec, a
drug that causes the Uterus to get thinner. At first, her labor progressed
normally, and the fetal heart monitor, a device that physicians use to track the
health of the baby by measuring her heart rate and comparing it to mom's
contractions, showed reassuring signs. The baby's heart was reacting normally to
the contractions. Around 6:00 PM, things started to take a turn for the worse.
The baby's heart rate began to slow down too much at contractions and started to
take a long time to come back to normal. The nurses called Lisa's Obstetrician
and she came in at 8:18 that night and ordered that the Pitocin, a drug that
intensifies contractions, be increased.
After she left the Hospital, the nurses continued to note problems with the
labor and delivery. The noticed that the baby's heart was still slowing down at
the wrong times and taking a long time to recover. The noticed that the pattern
of the heart rate on the monitor was abnormal. Lisa's doctor came in again at
10:30, and despite the problems that were evident, decided to stop Lisa's
pitocin and wait it out overnight. She left the Hospital at midnight, aware of
the problems that the baby was having. At 1:30 AM the nurses called Lisa's
doctor at home and told her that the decelerations were still present and that
the variability of the babies heart rate, another good thing to look for, was
absent. The Doctor ordered Lisa's epidural, a pain remedy, removed but did not
come to the hospital.
By 8:00 AM the nest morning the heart rate had become flat and Dr. Anderson was
called again. At 8:25 she came to the hospital and ordered a c-section. When
Elizabeth was born, she needed oxygen to revive her. Soon after she was born,
she started having seizures. A CT scan, taken 8 hours after she was born, showed
the first signs of brain damage. The damage was severe and permanent.
Lisa and Damon wondered why the Doctor hadn't delivered Elizabeth sooner and
wanted to know if that would have prevented her injuries. To that end, they
hired Ken Suggs and Stephen Suggs to investigate the case. What they determined
was that the doctor should have done a c-section no later than 9:00 PM on the
day Lisa was admitted to the Hospital. By not doing a c-section, the doctor left
Elizabeth in a place where she couldn't get enough oxygen. Her heart had to
bounce back from each contraction to pump oxygen to her organs. Eventually, even
her brain wasn't getting the oxygen it needed. When she was finally taken out of
the bad situation the damage had been done. An expert in the field of economics
established that her future medical expenses and lost earning capacity from her
disabilities was 2.7 million dollars. She had a shrunken brain and was blind.
Now 6 years old, Elizabeth can say about 6 words. She has seizures and Cerebral
Palsy.
At trial the jury agreed with Lisa and Damon that the doctor should have saved
Elizabeth when she had the chance. Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC, was privileged to
represent this wonderful family, and was pleased they were able to provide
adequate compensation for the child's future needs.
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