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Nearly everyday, due to the negligence of medical caregivers, especially doctors, patients get critically injured in the process of their treatment. In extreme cases, they become permanently impaired and even die due to the damages caused by the doctors or their staff.
Recently, one of the biggest verdicts of medical malpractice was given in the state of Iowa. It has been seen that multi million dollar awards are usually not common in Iowa. Debra Gardner, a single mother filed a lawsuit of birth injury on October 5, 2004 against Broadlawns Medical Centre, Polk County, Iowa for causing the disorder of cerebral palsy to her son, Nathaniel Gardner. Her personal injury lawyers, Ken Suggs and Fred James, stated that that the doctors persisted Debra Gardner's pregnancy two weeks beyond normal and during natality, her blood pressure went dangerously low because of the spinal anesthetic given to her which constricted the oxygen flow to the child. They argued that the doctors ignored the adverse condition of the baby and did not perform an emergency operation. The operation which should have been performed in five minutes, took twenty four minutes to end. As a result, Nathaniel was not breathing and had turned blue when he was born.
He was revived at Broadlawns and then taken to Blank Children's Hospital where, on the fourth day, a catheter was inserted into his heart and he was resuscitated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. When Nathaniel was 6 months old, Debra realized that he was not a normal child. Even today Nathaniel is living a challenged life. He is unable to move his legs and arms and also is unable to speak.
Broadlawns lawyer, David Brown defended by saying that though the doctors sympathized with Nathaniel's family, they were not responsible for his condition. The two main doctors involved were Dr. Larry Lindal and Dr. Robert Railey.
The personal injury lawyer explained that a minimum of $16 million would be required to take care of Nathaniel.
On September 6, 2007, the jury decided that Broadlawns was 75% responsible for Nathaniel's state. The hospital has to compensate for all the pain and suffering caused to Nathaniel and his mother and has been ordered to pay $13.5 million to Debra Gardner.
People of the Iowa state are really happy at the verdict because this has reinsured their faith in the judiciary system.
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