In South Florida, a Broward County jury has ordered the North Broward Hospital District to pay the Lauderhill family of 8-year-old Darian Brown $35 million for medical malpractice. Darian sustained irreversible brain damage because of medical errors that took place during his birth at Broward General Medical Center.
On January 10, 2000, when Denise was still pregnant with Darian, her doctor noticed during a routine checkup that Denise’s heart rate was beating unusually fast. She was admitted to the hospital and began pre-term labor three days later. Medical staff managed to stabilize Denise and the baby, but the next day, at around 2:40AM, their condition grew worse.
The Brown’s lawsuit alleges that nurses were negligent because they waited two hours before calling Denise’s doctor. The doctors, who did not deliver Darian until 7am that morning, are accused of failing to delivery the baby in a timely manner.
As a result of his birth injuries, Darian is profoundly mentally impaired, is unable to make decisions, cannot walk or feed himself, and will require lifelong specialized care. The $35 million jury award will allow his parents, Denise and David Brown, to hire 24-hour care for Darian and buy a van with a wheelchair lift. To support Darian and their other three young children, David has had to work the night shift, so Denise could work during the daytime.
Birthing Malpractice
Medical errors that occur prior to, during, or after delivery can cause serious and permanent injuries to a baby. Birth injuries can be caused by a number of medical malpractice errors, such as failure to diagnose/treat the mother’s high blood pressure, failure to deliver the baby in a timely manner, failure to perform an emergency C-section, errors involving forceps delivery or vacuum extraction, and errors that prevent a baby from getting enough oxygen.
Please contact our South Florida medical malpractice law firm to discuss your case.
Lauderhill family with brain-damaged son wins $35 million malpractice verdict, Sun-Sentinel.com, June 19, 2008
Medical Malpractice & Childbirth, Wrongdiagnosis.com
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