A baby was delivered in a county hospital remaining in the baby ward for a minor issue. During her early months of age, it was noted that the baby's milestones were not being reached. Thereafter a pediatrician's diagnosis of brain damage was made without ascribing a cause.
Years later, the child's mother retained our firm to determine whether the child's brain damage could have occurred during the delivery process while in the baby ward. It was during a deposition that we took of a doctor who(amongst many) was in the hospital ward, where we obtained information that while he had no contact with the new born baby, he did spend some time in the ward with other doctors and nurses. At the time, he was a one year intern.
We ultimately located the doctor where he was now practicing medicine in Florida. The medical records provided to us by subpoena had a very brief and almost illegible note which recorded that one of the ward doctors developed chicken pox and was later sent home. It was that remote note that ultimately tied in the intern and placed him in the baby ward at the same time the baby was there. At his deposition, he recalled the event of his contracting chicken pox, and being sent home.
The issue was now whether the baby ward exposure to chicken pox could have produced the brain damage suffered by our baby client. We were prepared to meet that issue through a team of infectious disease experts we put together.
After more than one week of trial the county attorney agreed to settle the case, prior to a jury verdict, for an amount that would maximize the child's future medical care and security for life.
