A Coles County jury awarded $40 million to a 19-year-old lady and her parents in a medical negligence complaint stemming from injuries sustained during her birth at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.
The amount is the biggest malpractice verdict announced in Illinois outside of Cook County. It is the highest verdict in Coles County history. The health system located in Mattoon has reacted that the judgment does not represent the facts of the case and that rewards of this magnitude are disastrous to the community.
According to the plaintiff's attorney, the jury determined that the plaintiff's birth injuries were avoidable if the hospital personnel and a nurse had not delayed summoning the doctor to perform an emergency C-section.
During the three-week trial, the plaintiff and her parents testified, with the parents outlining how their daughter's serious and lasting brain damage had affected their life.
The complaint was filed 15 years ago when the plaintiff was four years old. Prior to the case coming to trial earlier this month, the defense allegedly offered the lady and her family $3 million to settle the case. The plaintiffs' attorneys requested the jury to pay them between $35 and $37 million during the trial. With its decision, the jury boosted the sum to $40 million.
The plaintiff's lawyer stated that they prosecuted the case for 15 years and continued to reject the defense contention that the plaintiff was not wounded to the amount we claimed. The counsel said that, while the girl seems to be a typical 19-year-old, brain injury has curtailed her potential. The judgment is reasonable and reflects the full recompense that the girl deserves for the suffering caused by the defendant's actions.
According to the plaintiffs, the girl's mother was 40 weeks pregnant in May 2003 when she started bleeding and experiencing stomach discomfort and cramps. As she arrived at the hospital in the early morning, it was clear that she had had a placental abruption.
According to the plaintiff's counsel, a doctor was not summoned to the hospital until the situation was critical. As a result of the delayed birth, the lady had a seizure problem, minor cerebral palsy, and speech and developmental difficulties.
The woman has made tremendous progress thanks to intense physical, occupational, and speech treatment, but she still has cognitive and intellectual deficiencies, including substantial executive function dysfunction and memory difficulties, according to her attorneys.
According to reports, the jury awarded $20 million in future disability, $5 million in past disability, $4.75 million in future emotional distress, $750,000 in past emotional distress, $500,000 in past pain and suffering, $5 million in future caretaking expenses, and $4 million in future lost earnings.
