Mistakes made by a medical provider can be serious and long lasting. For a child who is inflicted with a brain injury due to a medical provider’s negligence it can be traumatic for both the child and the parents. A brain injury might require ongoing medical care throughout life. This is the case for a young boy who suffers from brain injuries after undergoing surgery for sleep apnea when he was 11-months-old.
Although this malpractice case did not take place in Illinois it might interest readers in the area. According to a report, the boy’s doctor recommended surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids and insert ear tubes. The complaint states that the boy’s medical history put him at risk of surgical complications.
Following the surgical procedure the boy was not placed in an intensive care room. He was instead placed in a regular-floor room where hospital staff did not monitor his level of oxygen. He suffered a brain injury when he stopped breathing while in the care of hospital staff and had to be resuscitated. His lawyer argued that if the doctor had required the use of equipment to monitor the blood oxygen level during the night the injury would not have happened.
After four to five hours of deliberation, the jury awarded the boy’s parents with $1.1 million. The award will be placed in a trust and will be restricted to meeting the medical needs for the boy. According to his attorney, “He’s about a year and half behind his peers in many skills…It’s difficult to know what he’ll be like at 20.”
Source: The Patriot News, “Harrisburg-area child awarded $1.1 million in medical malpractice lawsuit,” David Wenner, June 20, 2012
