On January 25th, The Tyrone Law Firm won a verdict of $13.9 Million dollars against Gwinnett Medical Center based on a claim that during birth, medical personnel failed to detect oxygen deprivation to the child’s brain. This is the largest Medical Malpractice verdict ever in the history of Gwinnett County.
The oxygen deprivation stemmed from the fact that hospital staff misread a fetal heart monitor and incorrectly diagnosed the cause of the girl’s condition as meningitis or an infection.
The child was born with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. She is now 10 years old but only has the mental capability of a 3-year-old.
After deliberating for three hours, the jury was divided with seven for the defense and five for the plaintiff. However, after an additional six hours of deliberations the following day, they were able to agree on a verdict of $13.9 Million.
The defense’s argument was that the child’s brain damage was a result of either meningitis or an infection which led to the oxygen deprivation.
However, an expert for the plaintiff stated that according to the brain images, the girl should have been diagnosed with HIE, which stands for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, which is a term for birth-related brain injuries which are the direct result of oxygen deprivation during birth.
The child’s mother was in labor for 17 hours before giving birth, and signs of distress appeared during the final 2 1/2 hours. After the doctors administered a drug to speed up delivery, the mother became hyperstimulated due to the fact that she was experiencing an increased number of contractions, which squeezed the umbilical cord and placenta, which led to limited oxygen flow to the child.
Nelson Tyrone contended that it was at this point that doctors should have intervened and performed a cesarean section in order to rescue the baby.
The child will need specialized care for the remainder of her life. There are no words to describe the pain that a parent goes through when a child has brain injury as a result of negligence that could have been prevented.
The Tyrone Law Firm specializes in representing those who have suffered a devastating injury, such as negligence during labor and delivery. We will present your case to the jury in terms of the human story – the total impact on you and your family, and the story of what your family has lost as a direct result of the injury. It is this presentation of the client’s story to the jury that compels them to bring back a verdict for significant money damages on your behalf.
Nelson Tyrone handles Brain Injury, Spine Injury and RSD/CRPS cases throughout the United States. He involves only the top medical, rehabilitation and life-care plan experts in the field. His results on behalf of clients include several of the largest settlements and verdicts on record.
Contact us today and talk to us about your situation. You can reach us at 404-377-0017 or via email at admin@tyronelaw.com. We will sit down with you free of charge and discuss what we can do for you. If we can’t help you, we will do our best to put you into the hands of lawyers who can.
We look forward to hearing from you and hope to be able to assist you with your case.
Hayley serves as a Labor and Delivery Nurse Consultant for the Tyrone Law Firm. She attended and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations. After graduation she moved to the gulf coast where she pursued a career in real estate and development.
