After languishing for hours in an emergency room, a 2 year old suffered with an infection that doctors finally had to remove every one of her limbs to abate, as reported by the Sacramento Bee, and a jury has awarded her family $10 million for her present and future care.
The award, on behalf of the child M.J., will be paid by Sacramento's Methodist Hospital and the Emergency Physicians Medical Group.
For California, this might be the largest settlement of its kind. The state has a $250,000 limit for damages that claim "pain and suffering" but - when other damages are claimed - a jury verdict can go into the millions.
R.J. and L.Y. took their daughter, M.J., to the emergency room at Methodist due to the child's unrelenting fever, her skin's discoloration and general weakness.
The lawsuit contends that both parents pleaded with the doctors and nurses in the emergency room while watching their daughter's symptoms worsen in front of them - for approximately five hours.
Once M.J. was examined by a ER physician she was flown from Methodist to the Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Stanford doctors were able to diagnose that M.J. suffered with Streptococcus A - that had invaded both her blood and organs.
She then, as a result, had to have all of her extremities amputated - save one part of her right hand.
The doctors from Stanford would not confirm that a swifter move for treatment would have would have resulted in a different outcome. The child was made ill, they stated, due to a peculiarity of genetics.
Erin MacEneaney, the spokeswoman for Methodist Hospital, said, "We are pleased to have reached a resolution with the family and we wish (M.J.) only the very best in the future. The (J.) family continues to be in our thoughts and prayers."
There is a confidentiality agreement that prevents lawyers from either side of the case to offer commentary. But court documents show that Methodist agreed to pay $9 million and the Emergency Physicians Medical Group of Sacramento will pay the remaining $1 million.
Some of the award will be used to payback the state's health care plan - that is used for the poor - and another sum of over $1.5 million will be paid to Moseley Collins III, the lawyer that represented the family.
The remaining funds will be put into a "special needs trust." That money is earmarked to cover the costs of M.J.'s current needs plus a monthly annuity of $16,000. By 2026, when M.J. reaches the age of 18, she will begin having further annual adjustments.
Both parents have been unable to continue with full time employment as M.J.'s needs require full time care. Along with that, her medical bills are devastating - starting with three months at Stanford, which was followed by more care at UC Davis Medical Center.
Her physical and occupational therapy, as well as the aforementioned medical care costs, have left a crushing debt on her parent's weary shoulders.
Her father said, "I have spent everything that I have in order to take care of my daughter. I am down to my last penny just paying for her medications. I am completely broke. I have a child who was disabled by a hospital, and it would be nice to know that we will be able to take care of everything. But I just don't know right now. All I have is a piece of paper that says her needs will be handled. Yes, we got a settlement, but all of this has made our lives miserable, and it's not over. It's not."
If your child has been hurt by the negligence of someone else, you can gain some relief by filing a lawsuit. Contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as you can to start setting things right!