Family Gets $58 Million In Record-Breaking Malpractice Suit

In what is being called the largest medical malpractice verdict in state history, two Connecticut parents have been awarded $58 million on behalf of their eight-year-old son, reports ABC 7's Eyewitness News.

Attorneys for the family say that Daniel D'Attilo now has cerebral palsy because of brain damage resulting from a delayed delivery by their obstetrician. "It's an overwhelming victory for the parents," one of the family's lawyers, Kathleen Nastri, told the Associated Press. "He is profoundly, profoundly disabled and the parents have gone through hell."

The case was filed in 2005, after Daniel's birth on February 2, 2003, reports the Connecticut Post. According to attorneys, Cathy D'Atillo's amniotic fluid dropped by half on January 31, but her physician waited days to perform a Caesarian section -- they also say that even once the surgery did happen, it was done improperly.

According to the NIH, "Cerebral palsy is caused by injuries or abnormalities of the brain" that typically occur in the womb. While symptoms can range from mild to very severe, in Daniel's case he is unable to speak, eat or walk, and suffers from seizures.

Of the record dollar amount granted by the jury, $8 million is expected to cover medical expenses, while the remainder was designated for pain and suffering.

"The dollar amount means he will be taken care of, that's what this means to us," Daniel's mother Cathy told the Eyewitness team, who also reports that her son will need full-time care.

But the doctor's attorney, James Rosenblum said to the Associated Press that the jury's decision was made more out of sympathy than hard evidence -- he promised that his client would appeal the case. "His treatment was impeccable. It's a shocking verdict," he said.

Other physicians worry the jury's decision could keep doctors from taking on high-risk cases like this one in the future -- check out that perspective and the family's story in the ABC 7 Eyewitness report.

WATCH:

Comments

[whochi]

10:13 AM on 05/29/2011

Obama says we can monitor and give better and more affordable health care for seniors by setting up an expert panels to deal with Medicare on an 'honest' basis and make sure patients get cared for, period, with little excess cost involved.
We should do this for cases such as this and get the 'pain and suffering' crap eliminated. Other countries do not allow such crap to occur. The boy is entitled to be cared for period but no one should be handed what is nothing more than a winning 'pain and suffering' lottery ticket. This 'pain and suffering' crap has got to go. If it saves ten cents, then it saves ten cents.

[tlee47ftw]

10:41 AM on 05/29/2011

So if someone's negligence causes you intense pain for a long period of time and maybe a lifetime of suffereing you don't think you should get anything for it? They should get to keep the money that would have gone to you and, in effect, be rewarded for their negligence? Is that what you are saying? A drunk runs through a red light and hits your car breaking many bones and causing you months and months of painful rehabilitation, a loss of some functions and some pain the rest of your life, but you get nothing but medical reimbursement? Not hardly.

[mightyhead]

10:57 AM on 05/29/2011

Try being on the business end of the pain and suffering and see if the compensation for it feels like a winning lottery ticket.

[Tina Buttner]

09:55 AM on 05/29/2011

I like how everyone says in medical malpractice cases all the money goes to the lawyers. If a plaintiff lawyer loses a med mal case, it comes out of their pocket. Defense attorneys have a bit more funds available to defend their case, and bill by the hour to the insurance companies.

I guesstimate that also that the $8 million that was for previous medical costs will likely be eaten up and by Medicare or Medicaid through a subrogation claim.

so what does that leave after fees and costs? 20 mil? the kid is only 8 and probably has a life expectancy of 55 or 60 (at most) - he has to have 24 hour, round the clock care for the rest of his life. He will need comfortable housing and transport. he will need special schooling. He will require nursing home care after his parents are gone from this earth. His entire life span will be dictated by more doctors and nurses, and they cost money. The remainder of that 58 mil will be placed in some kind of irrevocable trust for his care, and if he dies before the money is used up, the family gets none of it.

If we didn't have medical malpractice cases, how would doctors police themselves? There is no system in place to regulate their standard of care - this is how it is done. No one wins when a child is permanently injured because of medical negligence.

[whochi]

10:16 AM on 05/29/2011

Strawman argument. No says money goes to the lawyers. We say the money should never be added to the cost of health care period; pain and suffering should be outlawed period. True medical costs for the boy should be determined by experts, not juries listening to a mother and father sobbing on a witness stand and then swayed by some used car salesman using emotional crap.

[Gayle Boesky]

10:38 AM on 05/29/2011

The jury system goes to the heart of our democracy. It's the old slippery slope argument. You take jury trials away here and it will be easier to take them away in other matters. I'm not sure why parents sobbing over this tragic situation would offend you. Since I bet you didn't see their testimony, I take that as a gratuitous, heartless, made-up comment, not fact.

[runswithscissors]

12:38 PM on 06/05/2011

So our court system should be in the hands of "experts" rather than juries? I'm pretty sure they tried that once before in medieval Europe...

[paid troll]

09:38 AM on 05/29/2011

it's all a big "fraud" unless it's YOU or YOURS who have been injured.

[DARK STAR]

09:35 AM on 05/29/2011

Allow physicians to unionize, get 3rd party admins out of picture, reform medical practice law as lawyers seem to be practicing medicine when they interpret results and push blame.

[siliconracer]

04:07 AM on 06/01/2011

It's illegal for physicians to unionize as you inferred. But we share information via the social network now.

[DARK STAR]

09:51 AM on 06/01/2011

Made illegal by the same folks, lawyers, that not only make the laws but also enjoy the very things they forbid physicians from doing!

[Equinator]

08:43 AM on 05/29/2011

Want to fix the medical system? Here is a nice start: 1) Create a real review process that will require re-training or removal of medical personnel or even facilities with preventable bad outcomes. 2) Train more doctors and nurses with a reasonable costs of training. 3) Provide a way to get medical treatment for patents with bad outcomes with out it costing millions of dollars. 4) Provide medical research that makes the results available without restrictive patents. 5) Pain and suffering is exactly what is sounds like, but the legal awards must me limited.

[dennisc443]

08:32 AM on 05/29/2011

Hooray, they get millions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ wait a minute, they have lawyers that will take about 80%! Of course they could write a book that could get more money......Sure hope the child gets the care that he is supposed to get...OR will he be smothered in Love..........

[crystal08]

12:54 PM on 05/29/2011

not all lawyers get 80%.. have you even talked to any malpractice lawyers. Yes they get a good amount but not 80%. I know a lawyer who only gets 40% if the case is won.

[justhope]

02:33 AM on 06/14/2011

Which State they get 40%.. It all depends on State Laws.. In Florida they cannot get more than 33%

[Coyote50]

11:58 PM on 05/29/2011

Most lawyers get between 33% and 40% when they try a case. And you need to understand that these cases cost a fortune to try - especially since the doctors fight them tooth and nail, even when they know they were wrong. It can cost $300,000 for plaintiffs to fight these cases and those are costs that the lawyers assume. Just over a quarter of cases that go to trial against doctors are won -- partly because it's so hard to get doctors to testify against each other and partly because doctors are held in such high esteem. Which is kind of amazing when you learn that it's estimated that there are almost 100,000 serious mistakes made in hospitals and by doctors every year - each one of those mistakes mean that a patient has suffered.

[justhope]

02:41 AM on 06/14/2011

Yes, I can tell you about a Dr who punctured my spine and sent me home leaking spinal fluid for weeks as I suffered passing out & couldn't stand due to the pain. Each time I went to the ER the doctor on call would call her she said I don't need any corrective procedure I just needed pain drip.. Well as soon as that wore off, the pain would awake me screaming. Couldn't hold my head up or stand... I went through hell till someone agreed they needed to use a blood patch to seal it. I was left with hematoma/hemanginomas on my spine.. Large Blood Clots.. Not one attorney would take the case as it is hard to win a malpractice case.. That left me suffering.. So please don't tell me what shouldn't be done.. I applaud these parents' award!!!!

[Equinator]

08:30 AM on 05/29/2011

I hope you don't think the 58 million is free. You will be paying for it in one way or another. Yes, the child and his family need lots of help but 58 million dollars, most of which will go to lawyers. The medical system and the legal system is broken.

[Social Construct]

07:24 AM on 05/29/2011

I know how this is going to play out with the more conservative types. Never mind that corporate America makes this award look like a drop in the ocean with their legal machinations. They sue each other and the rest of us as if it were what one does after brushing one's teeth. Want to know why malpractice insurance is so high? Guess how much it costs to protect a defendant, mostly by legal maneuvering of questionable legality or, at the least, legal ethics. Vast sums are spent on the attempt to bury the plaintiff in legal costs. I guarantee costs, and resultant awards, if there are any, would decrease significantly if both sides followed ethics and fairness in the application of the law. It disgusts me to see so many lambaste people that are wronged for bringing suit but ignore how the corporate world makes everything costlier by manipulating and mangling civil law.

[still hopeful at 55]

08:12 AM on 05/29/2011

excellent point! faved!

[dennisc443]

08:34 AM on 05/29/2011

Just woke up huh? I have known that for fifty years! It started with FDR!

[Social Construct]

08:53 AM on 05/29/2011

I'm pretty certain that its gone on quite a bit longer than that. People and groups that obtain dominating power over others within a society, historically speaking, either manipulate the law, ignore the law or just rewrite the law when their control is challenged. Whether by divine right or by manipulation of the legal system, it all comes out the same.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

04:08 AM on 05/29/2011

In the UK they would have gotten squat - probably

[Ailidh]

05:07 AM on 05/29/2011

...which is one of the reasons why the British health care system works and the US system doesn't.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

05:35 AM on 05/29/2011

Slick said - 'That depends on what the word is, is' - not so good in UK either

[spiderlegs13]

07:01 AM on 05/29/2011

Have you ever lived in the UK? The healthcare system certainly is not better. Patients wait for months and months and months to see specialists and have surgeries. And yes, I have personal experience with this.

Additionally, the private insurance industry is growing leaps and bounds in the UK. It is because people do not to deal with the crummy public healthcare system.

The system in the US is certainly not perfect but we have some of the most advanced and best healthcare in the world. If Americans could only learn to take care of themselves (e.g. eat healthier, smoke less, drink less, exercise more) than our numbers would look fantastic.

[notatowniegirl]

10:03 AM on 05/29/2011

Maybe.. but his medical care wouldn't be out of pocket and things not covered wouldn't be exorbitantly expensive.

[Susan Shaffer]

03:49 AM on 05/29/2011

it is cases like this that force doctors to have such high professional indemnity insurance.
the flow on is that they have to charge and arm and a leg for their visit.
if you have insurance then the insurance company in order not to make a loss will cut back somewhere else on someone else's treatment
stupid judgement and way out of proportion

[howdareya]

01:55 PM on 06/04/2011

It wouldn't be a stupid judgment if it happened to your child or yourself, then it would be a completely different story..

[Susan Shaffer]

03:48 PM on 06/04/2011

in australia the government put a cap on the payouts. the professional indemnity insurance cost was reduced. if there is not enough money from a payout then the government pays for the rest
as an example i have private health insurance. i had not changed from single to family when i was pregnant. the change in cost was say 50aud per month to 100aud per month.
i was pregnant with twins. they were premmie. as a private patient i could stay in the private hospital and if my twins were born in the private hospital i would have to pay 300aud per day per twin for an approximate stay of 3-5 weeks
i decided to move to the next building which was the public hospital. i was a private patient and the hospital billed my stay to my insurance company. the twins were automatically covered by medicare (government insurance) and stayed in the same place where they would have been if i had paid 300aud per day. except now as public patients the ward doctor would be their doctor. there are 3 shifts a day of ward doctors. as a private patient i would have to employ a paediatrician and that doctor would not be able to work 24/7.
compare this to the cost of looking after octomoms babies
something is wrong with the costings in usa. the state paid for octomom's kids but the figure was so staggeringly high

[Tara Hunkoff]

03:24 AM on 05/29/2011

Suppose I offered to pay all the costs of caring for your newborn child for life if you would allow me to delay or otherwise mishandle that child's gestation and birth such that the child suffered severe lifetime damage. No pain/suffering award, no punitive damages, just 100% medical care.

Would you accept that offer?

Of course not. You would not want your child or you to endure the pain and suffering. It's no less real just because it's intangible.

This couple wasn't even offered that awful bargain. They and their child were damaged by the malpractice of people who had a legal and moral duty to practice medicine by well-recognized standards of care.

A bad result does not equal malpractice! Doctors who achieve poor results after providing acceptable care have nothing to fear from a malpractice suit. No sane plaintiff's attorney will take a case where acceptable care was used.

Attorneys who repeatedly file frivilous actions will be sanctioned or even disbarred. I've seen it happen.

As for punitive damages, they punish the wrongdoer and dissuade others from doing likewise. If all I have to pay is $4,000 in ER expense every six years for cutting some customer's finger off in an unsafe store, I'm not going to spend $193,000 retro-fitting my store.

Where are all of you who preach "personal responsibility"? What about paying for the damage you do to others? If people always did the right thing, we would not need laws or courts.

[p c r]

04:27 AM on 05/29/2011

Malpractice suits about infant outcomes are always viable, because no person wants to believe a bad OB outcome is blameless. No one knows exactly when the injury occured causing the CP. It could have resulted from an infection the mother had or a med she took before she knew she was pregnant or a complication with the in vitro procedure or the kid laying on the cord for a prolonged time in the middle of the night while the woman slept.
The problem is that there is no firm causation listed for CP, and it could have been many things. The jury chose to blame the doctor, but the last one didn't. The jury is incapable of understanding intricate medical details. Look at the OJ jury. They aquitted because they couldn't comprehend DNA in the mid 1990's.

[TobyRandyBigTummy]

06:44 AM on 05/29/2011

I agree. Many parents with autistic kids always look for something to blame for their kids. They blame the environment, the food, vaccines and so forth. They are so blinded by the fact the kids were just born that way. On a normal distribution, a few will always be genius and a few will always be mentally challenged. It is just the law of nature.

[Equinator]

08:34 AM on 05/29/2011

Finally a voice of reason.

[howdareya]

01:59 PM on 06/04/2011

Well said....To my knowledge, only 2% of malpractice cases are won, Nationwide, that statement in itself speaks volumes. I like your post..

[Lulo]

03:08 AM on 05/29/2011

In 25 years in the US my experience with doctors and dentists has been less than satisfactory. Granted, I am sure there are some excellent doctors and it could be simply a chain of coincidences, but the lack of regulation and the easiness by which they can get around state regulations is pretty amazing. I would say 8 out of 12 times I needed medical assistance I was misdiagnosed. My stories about dentists have been truly amazing: From leaving a broken root canal metal rod (the thing they stick up your tooth to kill the nerve endings) and closing up to actually removing a tooth after making the assumption I could not pay for a better form of treatment simply because I had Hispanic name. Did not even ask. And the cost for services is insane: When my son was born I remember seeing a bill where they listed $20 for two regular tylenols. Or one time getting an MRI I was told that if I paid cash it would be $750 dollars but if it was billed to the insurance company it would be $1500 dollars. Or the $500 dollar bill for an emergency room visit that lasted less than 5 minutes, involved no tests, no x-rays, and no medications or treatment....

And now many doctors are starting to demand that you sign away ANY and ALL rights to your opinions online before they even treat you. There was an article about this just yesterday.

[howdareya]

02:04 PM on 06/04/2011

Is there any way you can share the article you read about doctors demanding that you sign away ANY and ALL of your rights to your opinioins online before they treat you? This statement alone is outrageous. Personally I would not go to a doctor who said that to me.

[leonethderosia]

02:14 AM on 05/29/2011

i have known 2 people who died of heart attacks very shortly after being sent home by the doctors and my mom almost died too after being prescribed a steroid for breathing trouble ( no suing in all 3 cases) but that being said millions of citizens will suffer because of lawsuits and lawyers sucking up so much in insurance premiums

[cheesesteak wid]

10:54 AM on 05/29/2011

The doctors are not willingly sending patients home prematurely. Its some a$$$hole beancounter who is making doctors push patients out of hospitals, to make more money for the HMO's. Its ironic that doctors are subject to the highest standards of scrutiny, toil the longest in medical training, yet, some punka$$$ college graduate with a degree in COMMUNICATIONS is telling them what to do.

[leonethderosia]

02:09 AM on 05/29/2011

it is horrible what happened to the boy but a big reason health care is so expensive is because of liability insurance

[cincinnati]

01:43 AM on 05/29/2011

Medical malpractice may be relatively rare, but suing about it is
even more so. Yes this case seems like it's too much, if fair,
but on average a patient will not sue at all, often because
they fear the long, dragged out process. It's also
known that if a dr. simply apologies right
away the patient is far less likely to sue.

In some states like Indiana it is extremely
difficult to sue doctors. I know a case
where a woman about 24 had been injured
by her operation in several painful ways,
and yet has to jump through hoops to
even hope to get to court.

So as far as medical costs getting out of hand,
this actually is small compared to the greed of
drug and insurance firms....as well as
thieves, posing as legit suppliers, ripping
off Medicare. Beyond that, Medicare
actually has small adm costs and a
single payer system makes so
much sense.

[Ailidh]

02:12 AM on 05/29/2011

I disagree. $58 million is not nothing and will have an inevitable knock-on effect on all our health care costs. In addition, there are thousands and thousands of people with cerebral palsy. Shall they all sue for $58 million? To the greed of drug and insurance firms you mention above, do not forget ambulance-chasing lawyers - and, frankly, the stupidity of jurors who look on lawsuits as being an alternative to winning the lottery. The parents do not need $58 million (nor does their lawyer) to live comfortable, decent lives. Let them share the award with other families who have children with cerebral palsy. Oh, I guess they won't really be getting all that money, will they? It'll go to their lawyer...

[NunyaBus99]

11:01 AM on 05/29/2011

AETNA ceo makes 8.8 Million per year
CIGNA CEO 15.2 million per year
WellPoint CEO 13.4 Million Per year
Humana CEO 6.4 Per year
United Health CEO 13,2 Million per year

No I think the real problem are the salaries of those at the top of the Insurance companies. I only listed 5 CEO's at they total 57 Million. Then take in consideration all the officers under the CEO and their pay. I am not saying CEO's shouldn't make bank but lets call a spade a spade. Salaries are the reason for outrages costs not lawsuits.

[howdareya]

02:22 PM on 06/04/2011

Every disability case is different, no two are alike. And the jurors went in and did their job well, it has nothing to do with a lottery win as you stated, it had to do with evidence about a child's delivery that went terribly wrong; when you get 6 jurors to agree with an overwhelming response.

It's easy for someone like you to knock a case like this, as your not involved, you weren't there, you don't the facts, you just feel like bitching.

These people have lifetime of care to give to their son Danny, he will suffer the rest of his life with disabilities. With today's modern technology he could live a very long time and he will need care long after his parents are gone.

How would you like to always be patiently waiting for your diaper to be changed, at age 8 or age 50? How would you like for people to be in your face daily, therapy, meds, etc.? How would you like it if you were never able to have a girlfriend or get married when you grew up because you would need so much care? How would you like to be waiting for a tiny sip of water, because that's all you could swallow at one time? How would you like it if you couldn't tell someone off her may have hurt you, because you couldn't speak?