A California jury has awarded the family of 5-year-old Paris Campen $7.4 million for the severe brain injury she sustained when she was a baby because of medical malpractice. Campen was just a newborn when doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit failed to promptly treat her infection with an antibiotic.
The infant developed meningitis, which resulted in permanent brain damage. Now she must use a permanent shunt in her brain to get rid of excess fluids. She also has to undergo behavioral and physical therapy.
Campen's mother, an ER doctor at UCLA Medical Center, says that doctors at Cedars Sinai ignored her when she questioned their care of her daughter. In her Los Angeles medical malpractice complaint, she accuses the medical staff at the hospital of failing to provide Campen with the standard of care that should have resulted in a timely diagnosis and immediate care.
Meningitis
Meningitis can be fatal to babies. Immediate diagnosis and the administration of the proper medications is necessary to combat the infection and to decrease the chances that the patient will suffer from hearing loss, brain damage, or learning diabetes.
Medical providers in California are supposed to provide patients with the standard of care that they can expect from other professionals in the field. Failure to provide that care can be grounds for a Los Angeles County medical malpractice lawsuit if a patient gets hurt or dies.
Pediatric malpractice, including failing to identify symptoms, wrong diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, delayed medical care, surgical malpractice, and medication mix-ups, can lead to brain injuries, strep infections, pneumococcal infections, bacterial infections, and even death. In many cases, a child who survives an incident of pediatric malpractice may be left with permanent damage that will be very costly for the family and may permanently compromise his or her quality of life. The best way of ensuring that your son or daughter receives the pediatric malpractice recovery that your family is owed is to explore your legal options.
Brain-damaged child awarded millions from Cedar Sinai, LA Times, August 29, 2009
Jury awards baby $7.3M in medical malpractice suit, Enquirer Herald, August 29, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia
Our Orange County, California medical malpractice lawyers are committed to helping injured patients obtain personal injury recovery for the harm that they have suffered at the hands of a doctor, surgeon, nurse, or another medical provider.
