York County Jury Awards $4.4 Million in Birth Injury
February 16, 2009
ROCK HILL, S.C., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ — A York County jury on Friday awarded $4.4 million to the parents of a child who suffered a brain injury at birth. The award was against Piedmont Hospital.
The jury said the hospital was at fault when it assigned a nurse trainee to monitor Robin Wilson, who arrived three days before her scheduled induction with nausea and vomiting. The nurse misread fetal heart monitoring data showing the baby was in dire distress and needed emergency intervention, according to the plaintiffs.
Sierra Wilson was born Nov. 18, 2003, with severe brain injury due to oxygen deprivation and later developed Cerebral Palsy. She died Feb. 13, 2008, of complications from cerebral palsy, exactly one year, to the day, of the verdict.
When medical professionals fail to meet reasonable standards of care they need to be held accountable, and the jury agreed with that, said Ken Suggs, of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, Columbia, S.C., attorney for the couple.
It’s particularly tragic when the negligence involves a child who is sentenced to lifetime of disability and her parents to a lifetime of heartache, said Jerry Jowers, also with Janet, Jenner & Suggs.
Robin and her husband, Brice, of Ft. Lawn, sued Piedmont Hospital, doing business as Amisub, in the York County Court of Common Pleas.
Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC, a national firm based in Baltimore, MD, represents victims of medical malpractice and pharmaceutical negligence. It also has offices in Columbia, SC, and Asheville, NC, and maintains satellite offices in Atlanta, GA, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, PA and Minneapolis, MN.
