Failure to Diagnose Congenital Heart Defect in Newborn Results in Settlement
Case Summary:
Amount: $435,000Court: Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
Date: August 2001
Plaintiff's Counsel: David M. Paris and Ellen M. McCarthy
Description: Medical Malpractice / Wrongful Death
Our client was born with a VSD and coarctation of the aorta. Although nurses appreciated a murmur, her physician did not. At the first well visit, the parents reported symptoms including poor feeding, raspy breathing and blueness of her hands, feet and mouth. They were told to return in 1 week. The baby died 3 days later of congestive heart failure. The defense argued that at the first well visit no murmur existed and that the “cyanotic” episodes disappeared as soon as the baby was warmed.
