Record Malpractice Verdict to be Appealed

The Conn. Law Tribune reports that a Stamford judge has refused to reduce or set aside a record $38.5 million medical malpractice verdict rendered in February against a Stamford OB/GYN.

Stamford Superior Court Judge Taggart Adams held last week that the verdict was “just and reasonable compensation” and fully supported by the evidence. The award covers lifetime nursing care over a 50-year life expectancy for Spencer Oram, now 5, who suffered severe brain injury during the birthing process.

Evidence at trial showed that on April 3, 2003, Elizabeth Oram was admitted to Stamford Hospital, pregnant with twins. The next morning, she delivered a healthy baby girl, but within minutes, at 3:13 a.m., complications arose with the unborn twin. The baby’s heart rate “fell to an alarming 50 to 70 beats per minute. Almost immediately, [the defendant] noticed the baby’s umbilical cord was being restricted. She first attempted to have the mother deliver normally by pushing for 10 minutes, to no avail. At 3:23 a.m., de Cholnoky ordered a Caesarean section, which was begun at 3:27 a.m. and completed at 3:38 a.m.” The plaintiff’s expert witness testified that an emergency C-section should take only five minutes and that the defendant doctor responded too slowly. As a result, the baby suffered brain damage and is a quadriplegic unable to walk, talk or even eat normally. The boy is fed through a tube.

Defense lawyers plan to appeal.