Medical Malpractice Lawyers

From the Desk of aClevelandBirth Injury Lawyer: Negligence Can Happen Years Before the Delivery Room

As any birth injury lawyer in Cleveland will tell you, birth injury isn’t always the result of a mistake made during an actual birth. Sometimes the medical malpractice takes place during a completely unrelated incident, yet still has devastating outcomes on a birth with ramifications a family may struggle with for a lifetime.

A jury in Dedham recently awarded $35.4 million to Andrea Larkin, who is paralyzed from a stroke she suffered hours after giving birth to her daughter seven years ago. Yet the incident of malpractice actually occurred four years before when she was treated for dizziness in 2004 after running the Boston Marathon. An MRI and a CAT scan showed brain abnormalities. Dr. Jehane Johnston, a physician who examined Larkin, failed to place her on a special list of patients with certain medical conditions that other doctors could access.

Larkin delivered her daughter, Alexa, without a caesarean section, and suffered a massive stroke hours later that left her completely paralyzed beyond movement of her left arm. Had her doctor known of her brain abnormality through the special list, they would have ordered a caesarean section, which would have ultimately avoided the stroke.

With interest, the jury award resulted in just over $41 million. The Larkins have been paying for Andrea’s daily care, which is over $200,000 a year.

Many of the clients of birth injury lawyers in Cleveland pursue such financial settlements simply to afford the lifetime care their conditions require. It is not a matter of legal revenge, but a necessity of family care that pushes them to pursue litigation.