The mother of a child who suffered brain damage due to errors during his birth settled with the hospital for $7.5 million, says Dallas-Fort Worth lawyers Frenkel & Frenkel.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $7.5 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the mother of a now one-and-a-half year old child who suffers from brain damage; the mother alleges the brain damage occurred due to errors by healthcare professionals at the LA County-USC Medical Center. Proceeds of the settlement will purchase an annuity to pay for the child’s future medical care and allow his mother to purchase a home that will enable her to care for him. Birth Incident Dyrene Loftis, who was 39 weeks pregnant and living in a homeless shelter with two older children, was taken by ambulance with severe abdominal pains to County-USC. Loftis spent 14 hours in the labor and delivery unit without being seen by an obstetrician. She was discharged and returned to the homeless shelter, only to return less than 12 hours later with a ruptured uterus. Her baby, Micah Welch, was delivered by emergency cesarean, but not before he was deprived of oxygen, causing severe brain damage. Micah is currently in a long-term care facility in Sun Valley, and his mother makes a two-hour bus ride from her rent-subsidized apartment to see him several times per week. The child needs assistance to breathe and to eat. Bring Family Together The settlement will allow Loftis to purchase a home that will enable her to bring Micah home from the facility, and provide for his long-term medical needs. Loftis is glad to be able to bring all her family under one roof, but says she is still not happy with the entire situation. Loftis contends that the fact she was homeless led to her substandard care at the hospital, according to the lawsuit. Hospital Denies Wrongdoing The hospital denies wrongdoing, claiming that they do an “exemplary job” of providing services to those that are homeless, and that there is no evidence that their actions were related to Loftis’ homelessness. The award is the largest medical malpractice settlement in Los Angeles County in the past eight years. When medical malpractice is suspected as the cause or a contributing factor in an incident that causes injury or death, a medical malpractice claim may be in order. Contact Dallas-Fort Worth lawyers at Frenkel & Frenkel to schedule a free initial consultation regarding an incident where injuries may have been caused or worsened by medical malpractice.
