Jury awards $55M for birth injury

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A Baltimore jury on Monday awarded $55 million to a couple whose newborn suffered cerebral palsy and other serious medical problems during his birth at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2010 — a verdict that led Hopkins to say it was “stunned” and plans to appeal.

Rebecca Fielding and Enso Martinez’s lawsuit against the hospital and the Johns Hopkins Health System Corp. claimed that doctors should have performed an emergency Caesarian section much sooner than they did.

The delayed delivery left baby Enzo with permanent brain damage, acute renal failure and other disabilities, the parents alleged.

The trial started June 4 in Baltimore City Circuit Court. The six-person jury, made up of five women and one man, returned a verdict on Monday morning after more than 11 hours of deliberation.

“The family was emotionally spent, but overwhelmed by the jury’s verdict,” said Gary A. Wais, who represented Fielding and Martinez with co-counsel H. Briggs Bedigian and Keith D. Forman of Wais, Vogelstein & Bedigian LLC in Pikesville. “They know their son will be taken care of in the future, and that was really what they were most worried about, is what would happen after they were gone.”

The verdict consisted of $25 million for Enzo’s future expenses, $4 million for lost wages and $26 million in non-economic damages. Non-economic damages are capped by state law at $680,000 for injuries sustained in 2010.

Hopkins was represented by Donald L. DeVries, Janet A. MacDonald, and Meghan H. Yanacek with Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Dann LLP in Baltimore. The attorneys did not return calls for comment Monday afternoon. However, a hospital spokesman defended Fielding’s care and said it planned to appeal.

“While we certainly sympathize with Ms. Fielding’s situation, we are frankly stunned and surprised that the jury found for the plaintiff in this case given the evidence that was presented,” the spokesman, Gary Stephenson, said in a prepared statement. “We strongly deny the allegations in Ms. Fielding’s complaint and continue to firmly believe that the medical care provided to Ms. Fielding by Hopkins was entirely appropriate given the circumstances and that the standard of care was adhered to in her case.”

According to the lawsuit filed on Feb. 18, 2011, Rebecca Fielding, who was 30 at the time, had opted for a home birth. On March 25, 2010 she went into labor and was attended to at home by a midwife and others.

Complications began after 2 a.m. and, when the birth progression stopped, an ambulance was called around 2:35 a.m.

According to the lawsuit, Fielding was taken to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and came under the care of three obstetric and gynecological doctors.

Fielding and Martinez alleged that an emergency Caesarian section was ordered soon after her arrival, but not performed for nearly two more hours.

“It took an hour and 55 minutes from an order of C-section until it was performed at the number one hospital in the world,” Bedigian said. “We felt that was unacceptable.”

Wais said Enzo has permanent brain damage from the incident in addition to multiple physical and mental disabilities and cerebral palsy.

“All of the damages were inflicted in the last 18 minutes and were most likely caused by compression of the neck by the umbilical cord,” Wais said. “If they had gotten him to the operating room when they were supposed to, he probably would have been fine.”

Forman said the recovered damages would be placed in a special needs trust in Enzo Martinez’s name for his future care.

Bedigian called the cap on noneconomic damages a travesty.

“This is exactly why the caps need to be abolished,” Bedigian said. “This is a kid who is going to be in a wheelchair his whole life, and won’t be able to hold his head up and that’s worth [$680,000]? It’s repugnant. These are lifetime afflictions.”