$7.5 Million cash settlement for brain injuries caused by misplaced catheter

June, 2004

During the first day of trial, Feldman Shepherd attorneys Daniel S. Weinstock and Daniel J. Mann secured a $7.5 million cash settlement on behalf of a 15 year old child who suffers from cerebral palsy and mental retardation as a result of the alleged negligence of the child’s attending neonatologist and medical residents. The alleged negligence occurred during the child’s first two days of life in 1988. At the insistence of the defendants, the names of the parties are being held confidential.

Because the child was born premature in December of 1988, he recieved his feeds through a tube called an umbilical venous catheter (UVC). The catheter was placed inside of the child’s heart, which led to a condition called cardiac tamponade and, ultimately, cardiac arrest.

Attorneys Weinstock and Mann mounted a powerful case against the defendants, asserting that it was negligent for the defendants to place the UVC inside of the child’s heart, and that the residents were negligent in failing to make the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade until more than an hour after the child’s condition had suddenly deteriorated.

Trial was begun in Philadelphia’s “high-tech” courtroom, permitting the evidence to be demonstrated to the jury much more effectively than can be done in a traditional courtroom presentation.

Feldman Shepherd attorneys are confident that the 15 year old boy’s medical, educational and other needs will be taken care of for the rest of his life.