Subject:  Now we know where he's been the last 5 weeks |
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Chris
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Date Posted: 11/ 2/06 7:34pm
Landmark malpractice trial
Girl's attorneys seek $120 million
By Paul A. Long, The Cincinnati Post
Attorneys for an 8-year-old girl who was brain damaged at birth asked a Kenton County jury on Tuesday to award her $120 million in damages from St. Elizabeth Medical Center and her mother's doctor.
It's one of the largest such requests in Northern Kentucky history, and if awarded, would dwarf any previous court awards in the area.
But Geoffrey Fieger, the attorney for Candice Emro and her mother, Patricia Emro, said the amount is justified.
It must be used to pay for the constant care the girl will need for the rest of her life, he said. It's also needed to help make the girl comfortable as a child, a teen-ager and an adult, he said.
"This isn't a frivolous case," Fieger told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday after a five-week trial.
"This is the case of a perfect little baby trapped in a body ... that no one should be forced to endure."
Candice was born Sept. 12, 1998. During her birth, the placenta erupted and separated from the uterine wall, depriving her of oxygen. As a result, the child has severe brain damage and little control over her body movements.
During part of Fieger's arguments, Candice sat in the courtroom in her wheelchair, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.
A key issue in the case is whether the fetal monitor detected abnormalities in the heart rate of the fetus, and whether the changes in the heart rate were normal or a sign of major problems. A second issue is whether Dr. Jerald Furer and the hospital provided the "standard of care" required of them.
Much of the testimony in the past weeks centered on those issues.
Fieger told jurors the child's injuries could have been prevented had Furer and the nurses at St. Elizabeth been more attentive to the warning signs of trouble.
"I'm speaking for that little girl like that fetal monitor was trying to speak for her," said Fieger, a Southfield, Mich., attorney best known for being the lawyer for Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
"But nobody was listening."
The fetal monitor showed sudden decelerations in the heartbeat, Fieger said, but nurses paid it no attention
That's simply not true, said attorneys for Furer and the hospital. The girl's injuries were caused by a "sudden, massive, total placenta eruption" that was both rare and unpredictable, said hospital attorney David Kramer of Crestview Hills.
Nothing on the fetal monitor showed signs of distress until the placenta erupted, he said. The child was delivered by an emergency Caesarean section some 18 minutes later, he said.
Furer's attorney, James Triona of Milford, Ohio, said the doctor did everything he could have. But Furer could not have predicted the medical aberration of the placenta eruption.
"He doesn't have a crystal ball," Triona said.
In his arguments, Fieger asked the jury to award the girl $738,000 for her past medical expenses and $2.67 million for lost future wages. But he also sought up to $43 million for her future medical expenses, which includes round-the-clock medical care for most of the rest of her life.
He also sought $75 million for past and future pain and suffering.
Such numbers are preposterous, Kramer said. In court papers, he called Fieger's then-request of $20 million "unwarranted and excessive."
He said Fieger's case was a catalogue of "junk medicine," "inflated damage awards," and "20/20 hindsight."
"St. Elizabeth met the standard of care," Kramer said. "It did not cause those injuries."
But Fieger said Kramer's argument uses "code words" for those who don't want corporations and hospitals to pay for their mistakes and take responsibility for their actions. The only way for Candice to get justice is to give her their money she needs to live a better life, he said.
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