After five (5) weeks of testimony and nearly four (4) days of deliberations, a jury in Ohio awarded Heather Grow’s family $22.6 million for brain injuries related to the birth of her daughter Cassie. Heather was told months prior to delivery she had a narrow pelvic arch, which is known to cause difficulty during birth. A problem arose when, two weeks prior to delivery, Heather’s doctors realized Cassie was too big to deliver vaginally. This did not, however, change Heather’s doctors’ approach to delivering Cassie.
During delivery, Cassie became stuck for hours but her doctors continued to give Heather drugs to keep her uterus contracting. This caused Cassie’s head to be repeatedly pushed against Heather’s pelvic arch, causing serious brain damage. All in all, Heather was in labor for thirteen and a half (13 ½) hours before doctors decided to perform a Caesarian section to deliver Cassie.
Cassie, now eleven (11), is now a spastic quadriplegic with limited use of her arms and legs. This is a form of cerebral palsy.
She can walk short distances but needs a walker. She can see but because the part of her brain that processes vision was damaged, her brain can’t properly interpret what her eyes see. She has problems using her hands, and she is mildly retarded.
The majority of the jury’s award was for Cassie’s future medical care and her lost earnings due to her disability.
recently named in the 2009 edition of Best Lawyer's In America, David Mittleman has been representing seriously injured people since 1985. A partner with Church Wyble PC—a division of Grewal Law PLLC—Mr. Mittleman and his partners focus on medical malpractice, wrongful death, car accidents, slip and falls, nursing home injury, pharmacy/pharmacist negligence and disability claims.
Comments for this article are closed.