As reported by The Patriot-News, a boy that was left brain damaged following a sleep apnea surgery when he was less than a year old, has been awarded $1.1 million in medical malpractice lawsuit.
Most of the award will be placed in a trust for the child.
The award was made by a Dauphin County jury on June 19 after a 7-day long trial.
Following the 2007 surgery, K.G. has suffered with developmental delays that may very well follow him into his adult years.
Terry Hyman, the family's attorney, said, "He's about a year and half behind his peers in many skills. ... It's difficult to know what he'll be like at 20."
The lawsuit states that K.G. was diagnosed with sleep apnea – a condition that interfered with his breathing up to 50 times an hour while he slept and caused the oxygen in his blood to lower.
Dr. A.S., a member of the Associated Otolaryngologists of Pennsylvania, diagnosed the removal of the boy's tonsils and adenoids. During the surgery Dr. A.S. would also be inserting tubes in his ears.
The surgery was performed at Harrisburg Hospital. The hospital is not named in the lawsuit.
Because of K.G.'s respiratory problems and lowered levels of blood oxygen, according to the suit, he was put at a high risk of complications during surgery.
Following the surgery K.G. remained in the recovery room for five hours – allegedly due to breathing problems and lowered levels of oxygen in his blood.
The suit states that Dr. A.S. failed to examine K.G. following surgery and allowed him to be moved to a regular room away from the intensive care unit. Dr. A.S. is also cited for a failure to order staff to continue its use of a device that would have measured K.G.'s blood oxygen.
When K.G. was discovered without a pulse and not breathing he suffered a brain injury. A MRI test later confirmed that the event caused the injury.
Hyman argued that had Dr. A.S. monitored K.G.'s blood oxygen levels, the cardiac arrest, and accompanying brain injury, would not have occurred.
It took the jury approximately four to five hours to deliberate before handing down their verdict.
Due to the age of the victim, legal fees and other expenses must be approved by the judge and the remainder of the award will be placed into a trust that can only be used to care for K.G.'s needs.
Hyman estimated that the family will gain approximately $800,000 of the total award.
This is a rare award for Dauphin County. In 2011 five jury verdicts were made in medical malpractice cases – and all were made in favor of the medical provider.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of medical malpractice, contact a medical malpractice attorney to file your suit and help you to determine what damages can be sought.