New York Medical Malpractice Attorneys

$20,800,000-A sickle cell boy suffered massive brain damage by medical malpractice - Failure to perform exchange transfusion

F&F #93725A

$20.8 MILLION MEDICAL MALPRACTICE AWARD TO SICKLE CELL BOY

Jury Verdict: $20,869,023.51 child with sickle cell disease

Breakdown of Award:

• Past Pain & Suffering: $5,000,000.00
• Past expenses (stipulated): $2,518,311.51
• Future Pain & Suffering: $6,000,000.00 for 11 years
• Lost earnings: $2,200,000.00 for 31 years
• Future Home Care: $4,500,000.00 for 11 years
• Future Medical Care: $250,000.00 for 11 years
• Future Home Equipment: $400,712.00 for 11 years

$10,000.00 for loss of pecuniary services for Minta A.

Injuries:    

• Spastic quadriplegia
• Brain damage
• Feeding tube
• Tracheostomy

The plaintiff developed vaso occlusion of the cerebral vessels and suffered massive brain damage, leaving him profoundly retarded with severe spastic quadriplegia. He was transferred to Columbia Presbyterian where an exchange transfusion was performed which reduced his percentage of sickled cells to below 10%. He has been placed on a feeding tube and has had a tracheostomy.

Facts: Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald represented the plaintiff, a child with sickle cell disease. At age 7, plaintiff presented to Bronx Lebanon Hospital with pneumonia, anemia and acute chest syndrome, a complication of his underlying disease in which " sickled cells" blocked the blood vessels of the lungs, leading to poor oxygenation of the blood, which leads to further sickling. The further sickling carries a risk of vaso-occlusion in the cerebral blood vessels and brain infarct, which is what happened in this case. Bronx Lebanon Hospital performed a simple transfusion to treat the anemia but never performed an exchange transfusion to treat the acute chest syndrome.