A woman in Prince George’s County, Maryland, won the largest medical malpractice verdict in US history when a Baltimore judge awarded her $205 million in July 2019.
Erica Byrom sued the John Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre after complications during the birth of her daughter, which resulted in a serious brain injury to the now 5-year-old girl. The jury awarded her $229 million, but state cap reduced the awarded amount to $205 million soon after.
The Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
According to Byrom’s representatives, she was given incorrect and inaccurate details regarding her pregnancy in 2014 before her daughter's birth. The erroneous facts led her to believe that the pregnancywas non-viable and that her baby had less than 50 percent chance of survival outside the womb. This led to a greenlighting for the abortion and an end to the monitoring of the fetus, said her representatives.
Byrom refused a C-section, which led to many oxygen-related complications for the fetus. These complications caused her daughter to suffer cerebral palsy, a motor-disability that severely disrupted her movements and brain activity. The girl is now entirely dependent and requires full-time care.
Byrom filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and won the case. The hospital has filed an appeal against the ruling, claiming they carried out all of the proper protocols for the mother’s pregnancy and informed her of all the recommendations and risks before making any decisions.
A spokesperson for the hospital, Kim Hoppe, was vocal about how, despite the daughter's tragic condition, the jury had awarded the mother an amount that had far exceeded what they had hoped to achieve. Whereas Bryom’s representatives claim that the jury wanted to compensate the family for the daughter’s medical costs, which were to stretch for her entire lifetime.
The Legal Aspect
The verdict in favor of Erica Byrom is certainly incredible. State laws make it impractical to pursue such legal battles without the help of a medical malpractice attorneyor solicitor. It’s a competition of hard evidence and useful social connections that you may find almost impossible to do.
Medical negligence is a serious concern. It is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Despite there being around 15000 to 19000 lawsuits filed for clinical negligence each year in the US, 80 percent of these cases do not get any pay-outs or compensation whatsoever. Therefore, it is imperative for the plaintiff to:
- Be equipped with significant evidence to support their claims
- Ensure that the victim did indeed suffer physical or emotional trauma or injury
- Show that there was a breach of duty and the victim was denied the level of care that matches medical standards
- Hire an experienced and reputed medical malpractice lawyer to pursue the case
Contact for Free Consultation
Remember that using the service of a competent medical negligence lawyer is the key to winning medical malpractice lawsuits. For cases of clinical negligence in NYC, you can hire medical negligence lawyers from our firm to get professional help in winning your case.
Contact uson 212-344-1000 today for a free and confidential consultation if you think that any individual in your family has suffered from medical negligence that has affected their physical or emotional health.
