Hospital Pays Over $10 Million In Jaundice Case
November 13, 2001
A standard blood transfusion could have saved a newborn from the effects of jaundice and severe brain damage. It also could have saved St. Francis Hospital of Washington a $10 million verdict in a jury trial. The jury awarded Nathaniel Johns, 4, and his parents the multi-million dollar verdict after concluding that the hospital failed to recognize the boy had developed jaundice shortly after birth.
Attorneys told jurors that Nathaniel's parents placed numerous calls to his pediatricians but were informed his symptoms, which included a yellowish tint to his skin, required no immediate attention. Six days after he was born, Nathaniel had turned "pumpkin yellow" and his parents chose to take him to a lactation nurse, thinking his problem was nursing related. A blood test revealed that Nathaniel's bilirubin level was extremely high and a blood transfusion was required. Unfortunately, it was too late. Nathaniel had irreversible brain damage and is now a spastic quadriplegic.
A jury found the hospital liable, deliberating four days before awarding Nathaniel $10,065,000 and his parents an additional $580,000.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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