A NJ Hospital and Parents of brain injured boy settle Medical Malpractice suit for $8.5 million

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A New Jersey family of a severely brain-damaged child has been awarded $8.5 million to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit brought against the former owners of the Bayonne Medical Center and three medical workers.

The hospital and the family settled the multimillion-dollar lawsuit in Hudson County Superior Court after five days of testimony, The Jersey Journal reported.

On Aug. 14, 2005, Emily Ordonez, then 32, went to the hospital at 1:30 a.m. with the first pangs of labor. All prenatal tests pointed to a normal healthy baby.

But at 9:32 a.m., the heart monitor attached to her abdomen showed the baby's heart suddenly plunged from 140 beats per minute to the dangerously low level of 60 beats per minute, according to court records and trial testimony.

Telephone records show the labor and delivery room nurse waited almost half an hour before calling the attending obstetrician and when he arrived from Staten Island 22 minutes later, he waited until 10:55 a.m. to start an emergency Cesarean section, a procedure that took four minutes, the paper reported.

The reason for the baby's low heart rate was that his umbilical cord was compressed and the fetus was starved for oxygen. As a result of the delays, José Ordonez, now 5, was left with permanent brain damage and in need for full-time care.

José is prone to seizures, is unable to see, walk, or hold his head up by himself, adding that the boy feeds through a straw.

The child, who attends Concordia Learning Center at St. Joseph's School for the Blind on Summit Avenue in Jersey City, requires 24-hour care from his parents.

Attorneys of Ross Feller Casey, LLP has built a remarkable record of victories in Birth Injury related cases, amassing a long list of seven- and eight-figure verdicts and settlements. They include:

$22 million verdict in a birth injury case involving blood arriving late for a transfusion
$12 million recovery in a birth injury case
$8 million settlement for a child who suffered a brain injury due to a delay in delivery
$7 million recovery for a child left with cerebral palsy as a result of obstetrical negligence
$7 million settlement for a woman who died just after delivering a baby
$6 million settlement for an infant who suffered brain damage because a nurse midwife and nurses failed to manage fetal distress during labor
$5.5 million recovery for a child who was brain injured at birth because an obstetrician failed to recognize signs of placental abruption
$5.5 million settlement for the family of a 23-year-old woman who died after giving birth to her daughter

Disclaimer: Ross Feller Casey, LLP provides legal advice only after an attorney-client relationship is formed. Our website is an introduction to the firm and does not create a relationship between our attorneys and clients. An attorney-client relationship is formed only after a written agreement is signed by the client and the firm. Because every case is unique, the description of awards and summary of cases successfully handled are not intended to imply or guarantee that same success in other cases. Ross Feller Casey, LLP represents catastrophically injured persons and their families in injury and wrongful death cases, providing legal representation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.