In one of the largest malpractice awards in Maryland history, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore is responsible for a record-setting $55 million for a medical malpractice birth injury case, according to a court verdict this week. However, because of a state cap on damages, the patient's family will receive $29.6 million, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Enzo Fielding, now two years old, has cerebral palsy and cannot speak, walk or sit up on his own, according to CBS. In 2010, his mother, Rebecca Fielding, tried giving birth at home with support from a midwife, but when the baby got stuck, she went to Johns Hopkins. She waited two hours for a C-section, which she claims deprived the child of oxygen that led to the birth defect.
A Baltimore Circuit Court jury voted in favor of the plaintiff, which stunned Johns Hopkins, given the evidence, according to a hospital spokesperson, ABC News reported.
Denying the allegations, the hospital said "medical care provided to Miss Fielding by Hopkins was entirely appropriate given the circumstances and that the standard of care was adhered to in her case," Johns Hopkins said in a statement.
Johns Hopkins' attorneys said the baby lost oxygen during prior stages of the mother's labor at the family's home--not at the hospital, according to the Baltimore Sun.
However, plaintiff attorney Gary Wais suggested the hospital was negligent.
"Urgent means urgent. The expert testimony was that the C-section should have been performed in 30-40 minutes, and the jury got it right," he said, according to CBS.
Johns Hopkins plans to appeal the decision, it said.
For more information:
- read the Baltimore Sun article
- watch the CBS Baltimore report article
- see the ABC News article
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