On Jan. 26, 1999, plaintiff’s decedent Christian Boullianne was born with a brain injury. His mother, Brenda Boullianne was admitted to Carlisle Hospital that day and at 4 p.m., the his fetal heart indicated that he may be developing hypoxia. By 4:20 p.m. the fetal heart tones became bradycardic. At 4:33 p.m., Boullianne, who was assisted by nurse midwife Pamela Kozick, was completely dilated and was instructed to push.Boullianne alleged that Kozick continued to disregard the evidence of fetal distress and never called for the assistance of an obstetrician and made no effort to expedite delivery. Kozick continued to manage Boullianne’s labor by herself, and eventually spontaneous vaginal delivery occurred at 5:24 p.m. Christian’s brain injury was then diagnosed with a brain injury, which resulted in his death in 2001.Christian’s father sued Kozick, Women’s Health Associates of Carlisle and Carlisle Regional Medical Center for medical malpractice, seeking wrongful death damages. Carlisle Regional Medical Center was dismissed on defense motion.
Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Kozick failed to recognize and respond to clear signs of fetal distress. Stuart Edelberg, plaintiffs’ obstetrics expert, testified that Kozick violated the standard of care by failing to call in the supervising obstetrician in the face of the non-reassuring tracings, and that the fetal monitor findings were classic evidence of a hypoxic fetus that needed to be delivered by the most expeditious route possible. Dennis Dlugos, plaintiffs’ neurology expert, testified that the cause of neurological disabilities was from the brain injury, which occurred immediately prior to delivery, and was reiterated by Geoffrey Altshuler, plaintiffs’ placental pathologist.
The defense denied the allegations. Defense counsel contended that Kozick properly complied with the standard of care. Paul Douglas, defense obstetrics expert, testified that the fetal monitor strips were not troubling and Kozick was not required to contact an OB-GYN. Felicia Rohraugh, defense nurse practitioner expert, testified that Kozick properly acted within the standard of care. Bradley Quade, defense pathology expert, testified that it was not possible to tell whether the baby’s brain injury occurred prior to delivery.
Christian was profoundly depressed at birth, as spontaneous respirations could not be obtained until approximately 50 minutes of life, and he suffered seizures after delivery, had abnormal muscle tone, and sustained hypoxic/ischemic injury to several organs including his brain and kidneys. As a result of his brain damage, he suffered daily seizures, diminished or absent reflexes throughout his body, a depressed state of consciousness, mental retardation, and the need to be fed by an epigastric tube. He died on Feb. 9, 2001. Edleberg testified that Christian’s brain damage and cerebral palsy were caused by oxygen deprivation during the last minutes of labor. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Christian lived in a state of intermittent irritability due to his neurological injury, and that had he lived, he never would have been able to attend to his own basic personal needs and never would have been able to work. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Christian’s life expectancy, had he lived, was 75.2 years, and that his expected earnings range, based on a high school diploma through a bachelors degree, was $1.5 to $3.4 million, which was calculated by David Hopkins, plaintiffs’ economics expert. Gerard Boulianne sought $220,000 in past medical specials and $2,500 in funeral expenses.
The jury found that Kozick was negligent and her negligence was a factual cause of Christian’s injuries and awarded the estate of Christian Boullianne $2,273,471 in damages.