Page 10 - Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame: Medical Malpractice

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
VERDICT & SETTLEMENTS
HALL OF FAME

#5

Case:
Baizan v. St. John’s Riverside Hospital

Attorney: Randy Nassau

Firm: Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald

Date: 5/8/2009

Verdict:
$77,418,670

By Len Maniace

A child born with cerebral palsy was awarded $77 million by a state
Supreme Court jury in Westchester that found a Yonkers hospital
had failed to closely monitor his fetal heart beat and to perform a

timely Caesarean section.

The malpractice suit charged that the infant, Diego Baizan, was

deprived of oxygen, which caused the brain damage. The child needs
round-the-clock care because of an inability to walk, impaired speech
and vision, as well as delayed mental development. He also needs

to receive nourishment through a tube.
The hospital’s attorney contended that Diego’s lack of oxygen
preceded his mother’s arrival at the hospital. He maintained that Mariana Baizan entered St. John’s Riverside Hospital on Feb. 16,
hospital staff appropriately monitored Diego, and that monitor read- 2006 and Diego was born a few hours later. Trouble started within an

ings did not warrant an earlier delivery, not when a vaginal delivery hour of the baby’s birth, contended the family’s attorney Randy Nas-
was imminent and posed less risk than a C-section.
sau of Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald of Yonkers. Diego’s heartbeat dropped to
90 beats per minute, much slower than normal, from 160 beats about

25 minutes earlier.
Nassau said Diego underwent multiple ses-
With the baby ready
sions of occupational, physical and speech
to be born, obste-
therapy each week. She said he would not be THE MALPRACTICE SUIT CHARGED THAT

trician Dr. Shahram
able to complete high school and would not
Razman ruptured the
be employable.
THE INFANT, DIEGO BAIZAN, WAS DEPRIVED OF
amniotic membrane
OXYGEN, WHICH CAUSED THE BRAIN DAMAGE.
about 20 minutes
In inding the hospital liable, the jury appor-
later.
tioned the damages at $40.2 million in future
care, $20 million in future pain and suffering,

At that point, meconium or fetal stool was found in the amniotic $6.1 million in future medical costs, $4.9 million in future lost earn-
luid, which though common in labor can occasionally mean the fetus ings, $3.2 million in future cost of rehabilitation
is distressed. Diego was born 23 minutes later and it soon became

clear that something was wrong with the baby.
Prior to the case against the hospital going to trial, the family
negotiated a $2.1 million settlement with Razman, the obstetrician.
The family’s medical experts testiied that the monitor’s read- The family and hospital negotiated a settlement following the jury

ings suggested that Diego was not receiving suficient oxygen. They verdict.
contended that an immediate response had been warranted, and
maintained that every lost minute compounded Diego’s injuries.

Nassau argued that a C-section should have begun soon after
the fetal monitor’s irst signs of trouble and would have prevented
Diego’s injuries.

8 November 2014