Cerebral palsy child awarded $20.5M medical compensation

In Northwest Pennsylvania, a child suffering from cerebral palsy was awarded $20.5 million in a medical lawsuit filed as a result of doctor malpractice that occurred at the time of the child’s birth.

The medical lawsuit involved the birth of Cody White in June 2001. The child has been showing cerebral palsy symptoms, a condition attributed by the boy's family to the four-hour delay in his delivery.

According to the malpractice or medical lawsuit Laura White, the boy's mother, arrived at Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to give birth. Immediately, the mother was hooked up to a fetal monitoring system that clearly showed that the baby was in distress.

Despite this finding, a doctor did not arrive to deliver the child for about two hours. Even after the doctor arrived, attempts were made to induce labor instead of doing an emergency caesarean section.

Cerebral palsy is a motor disability which is caused by brain damage that can occur before, during or immediately after birth. The family successfully argued that the doctor and hospital’s failure to do an immediate c-section resulted in a lack of oxygen to the baby’s brain that resulted in the permanent brain damage.

The child is now 7 years old, but as a result of his birth injury, he requires 24 hour care, is unable to use his hands, is mentally retarded, blind and functions at the level of a 9 month old.

The cerebral palsy doctor malpractice or medical lawsuit was decided by a jury in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

Here's a breakdown of the medical compensation awarded to the family: $2 million for past expenses incurred by the parents, and $18.5 million for the child’s pain suffering, lost earning capacity and future medical expenses.

The verdict may be a record in the county, as no doctor malpractice verdict in the 7 counties of Northeast Pennsylvania has exceeded $10 million since 2000, according to Scranton Times.