Tripler Medical Center Settles $11 Million for Disabled Child

On September 21, Hawaii News Now reported that the Tripler Army Medical Center has settled a claim with the McCraw family to compensate for their child's permanent disability.

Kayla McCraw, now four years old, has had cerebral palsy since the day she was born at the Tripler Medical Center.  She has, and will continue to have, 24 hour a day care for the rest of her life.

The lawsuit was settled out of court for $11 million. 

During Kayla's birth, her umbilical cord was strangling her neck.  Due to poor communication between the doctors at Tripler, claim the family's lawyers, it took nearly an hour for the delivery.

It is alleged that the doctors knew of the situation, but that the medical team itself was slow to take action to help the baby while she was in distress.

After Kayla's delivery, doctors tired to resuscitate her. It was then that an intern - inexperienced in this type of emergency - placed a respiratory tube into her esophagus instead of her trachea.  That error caused her stomach, instead of her lungs, to receive the emergency oxygen that was needed.

Michael Livingston, one of the attorneys for the family, said, "In short, what we had here was a series of egregious medical errors over a period of two hours which resulted in severe brain damage.  She'll never talk. She'll never walk. She'll never have control over her bowel or bladder functions. She will probably have to be tube-fed for the remainder of her life."

In the last ten years Tripler - the largest military hospital in the Pacific to support thousand of active service members, veterans and their families - has had to pay at least four claims for child-related care.  The two most largest involved judgments for $9.5 million in 2007 and $16.5 million in 2006, and both were due to children that had massive brain damage during treatment.

Kayla's father, David McCraw, in speaking with Hawaii News Now, said, "I really pray that Tripler learns from this and takes precautions so it doesn't happen again. Something has to change."

If there is a common denominator among the cases it is believed to have to do with the Tripler doctors failure to communicate in a timely manner, per Livingston's team from Davis, Levin and Livingston.

Tripler accepts full responsibility and made this statement, "The circumstances surrounding the November 2005 birth of Kayla McCraw at Tripler Army Medical Center were an unfortunate tragedy … Tripler is especially gratified in knowing that the settlement monies will ensure that Kayla will receive the medical care, assistance, and rehabilitation that she needs for the rest of her life … Tripler has completed an extensive review and evaluation of this case and has already implemented important changes designed to ensure that similar tragedies do not occur in the future."

If you, or a member of your family, has been irreparably harmed due to medical malpractice, contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney in our directory to assist you.