Family of 8-Year-Old Quadriplegic Awarded $29 Million

Christian Arroyo is a happy second grader who loves music and his family. However, Christian’s life would’ve been much different if he had received the proper care at his birth. His family now struggles to provide him with the care he needs, as Christian is a spastic quadriplegic. Sadly, Christian’s condition could’ve been easily prevented if the doctors at Eerie Family Health Center had properly identified and treated a fairly common blood infection when he was born.

Christian was born at the Eerie Family Health Center in 2003 and quickly developed a common neonatal blood infection that can be treated with antibiotics. However, doctors at the hospital failed to treat the boy for 12 hours, leading to irreversible brain damage. Christian’s family did not realize that the doctors had done anything wrong until their second son was born and acquired the same blood infection. However, that time, the Arroyos’ son was immediately treated and had no adverse effects from his condition.

The Arroyos won their lawsuit against the hospital last year when a federal judge ruled that the doctors were negligent in their care of Christian. That decision was appealed, but a U.S. Court of Appeals recently affirmed the verdict. Christian’s father, Carlos, recently stated:

It’s hard, because there’s a limit to what we can do with him. I’m glad . . . because my son is going to get all the care he needs for the rest of his life, and that’s all we care about.