Jury Award Of $30 Million Against Hospital
In a verdict that may go down as the largest medical malpractice award in Lee County history, Lee Memorial Hospital on Friday was ordered to pay more than $30 million to a former Cape Coral couple whose son endured a lifelong crippling brain injury because of the hospital’s negligence.
A jury awarded the money to the family of Aaron Edwards at the end of a nearly six-week jury trial in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court. The family had filed a lawsuit in 1999 in which it said the hospital ignored its own policies during Edwards’ birth.
Edwards, now 9, can do little on his own, the family’s attorney, Jack Hill said.
“The little boy can’t do anything by himself,” Hill said. “He can’t take care of things we take for granted.”
Lee Memorial President Jim Nathan stood by the service provided by his staff. “We’ve delivered 50,000 babies at Lee Memorial,” he said. “This is a sad and unfortunate situation, but the experts we brought in say the care we provided at the time was appropriate.”
Because the judgment is against a corporation that is a special taxing district, it must be approved by the Legislature during the session that begins in March, according to a release from the plaintiff’s attorneys.
Fort Myers malpractice attorney Jeff Garvin said Lee Memorial’s nonprofit status also could result in a cap on the malpractice award unless the Legislature passes a special act and the governor signs the matter into law.
Counsel for Lee Memorial said an appeal would be filed.
“We believe that the verdict is contrary to the overwhelming evidence presented and that the care provided was appropriate and did not cause this unfortunate injury,” said Lee Memorial attorney Doug Lumpkin in a statement Friday. “We will pursue all post trial remedies available to us, including an appeal.”
Hill said a labor nurse ignored warning signs in Edwards’ mother, Mitzi Roden, who was experiencing strong, long contractions that led to a decrease in the blood flow to Aaron’s brain.
He said the nurse also ignored the hospital’s policies for births regarding protection of the patient while administering Pitocin, a medication that induces and speeds up labor.
Per hospital policy, nurses are supposed to recognize three factors in which a patient should be taken off Pitocin and two were present in Roden, Hill said.
“They should have turned the Pitocin off,” he said.
But Lumpkin said the circumstances leading to the brain injury were unexpected. In his statement, he said a “bradycardic event” required the emergency C-section that resulted in the physical injuries.
“We continue to support our doctors, midwives and nurses, not only in this case but for the valuable service they provide daily to our community.”
A call to Mitzi Roden, who now lives in Colorado, went unanswered Friday evening.
The hospital’s defense, Hill said, was that the hospital’s rules are mainly suggestions and that brain injuries are unforeseeable.
“Brain injuries happen,” he said. “In this case, it was clearly avoidable.”
If the verdict stands and is paid, it would be the largest medical malpractice payout in Lee County history by far, according to Garvin.
Attorneys originally asked for $42 million, but the jury, after hearing weeks of testimony and experts who could testify to how much it would cost Aaron to pay lifelong medical bills, they awarded $30,650,554.48. Hill said it will cost about $18 million in medical bills to care for Aaron.
“This is a tremendous victory for all of the folks in Lee County who seek treatment at Lee Memorial Hospital,” he said.