The Los Angeles Times reports a Glendale Superior Court civil jury awarded $15 million in damages in the case of a child who developed a rare but serious neurological disorder caused by untreated jaundice shortly after his birth four years ago at Verdugo Hills Hospital.
The child was born March 24, 2003 at Verdugo Hills Hospital. According to the lawsuit, the child exhibited several risk factors for kernicterus, a neurological disorder that can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy and hearing loss, when he developed jaundice shortly after birth. The jaundice was a sign of the buildup of bilirubin, a yellow bile pigment, produced in greater quantities than a baby’s liver can excrete.
The preventable injuries suffered were catastrophic! “He has normal intelligence, but he can’t walk. He can’t talk, can’t feed himself. He can’t control a single muscle and it was all preventable,” according to his attorney.
Was this verdict unfair or unreasonable? I don’t think so!