Negligence Cost a Hospital $4.2

The King County Superior court recently decided that the Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, WA was negligent in the case of a Maple Valley girl, and is required to pay $4.25 million to cover the expenses of her special needs. The case involved five year old Miriam Tavares who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, and severe brain damage, can not walk or talk, and must be fed through a gastric tube and Cerebral Palsy.

In a statement issued after the court’s decision, the hospital announced that it will appeal the decision.

Most of the money, approximately $2.5 million will be used to cover Miriam’s future medical expenses, $350,000 will cover past medical costs and the remaining $1.4 million will cover Miriam’s damages.

Apparently the court agreed with the family’s lawyer who claimed, that “this was a preventable injury”. That makes the reality of Miriam’s ruined life, and the burden being carried by her family, al the more tragic.

The family had originally sued the medical facility for $8 million which they claimed was the amount necessary to cover Miriam’s medical expenses until she reached the age of 40. The jury’s decision to award slightly more than half the plaintiff’s request was based in part on their assessment that Miriam had a shorter life expectancy. In addition, the jury rejected the family’s request for $4 million compensation for the burden they now face daily.

In a classic case of “seeing the cup half full rather than half empty”, the hospital’s spokeswoman Sherry Grindelland viewed the decision as a “partial victory for the hospital”, in view of the fact that the family “was asking for a huge settlement”. While not willing to provide additional details for a case which was in the midst of ongoing litigation, Ms. Grindelland claimed that the baby’s injuries occurred before the mother ever reached the hospital.

"Everyone at the hospital was and is saddened by the child's injuries and by the challenges this has presented for her family," she said. Ms. Grindelland expressed her personal and the hospital’s sadness over the Miriam’s disabilities and the crisis that now confronts the family, she claimed that the hospital strives to provide state of the art care for all hospital patients, while noting that not all circumstances are within the hospital’s ability to prevent or circumvent. This statement was widely viewed as the opening shot in preparing them that the hospital will, be pursuing the case based on very definitive evidence that absolves them of any direct responsibility for Miriam’s condition.

The Tavares’ malpractice claim holds the hospital negligent because it allowed for a 20 minute oxygen deprivation caused by for at least 20 minutes of oxygen during birth of deprivation after the placenta prematurely separated from the mother's uterine wall.

The chronology of the events reads as follows: Monday, May 30th 8:25 p.m. on May 30, Miriam’s mother Sharla Tavares checked into the hospital with contractions. In fact Sharla, who has a history of placental abruption, was scheduled for a C-section on Tuesday. This type of complication can deprive the baby of oxygen and cause heavy bleeding in the mother. Despite this fact, the obstetrician left the hospital without being notified of the high level of risk involved.

At 8:45 when the baby started showing signs of distress Tavares's fetal monitor began to show signs the nurses failed to contact the physician with any sense of urgency.

At 9 p.m., the monitor showed that the baby’s heart rate had dipped below 90 beats per minute. Whereas, the normal heart rate in a baby is between 130 and 190 beats per minute.

At 9:18 the obstetrician arrived (having finally been contacted by the nurses) and he performed an emergency C-section.

At 9:24 Miriam was born lifeless due to the 20 minute oxygen deprivation. The doctors attempts to save her life were successful and she was finally resuscitated.