$6M Ohio Medical Malpractice Verdict For Death Of Mom After Giving Birth

An Ohio medical malpractice jury found in favor of the plaintiff at the conclusion of a one-and-a-half week trial that took place in May 2016, awarding $6,067,830 to the husband of a woman who died on March 4, 2009 shortly after giving birth by an emergency Cesarean delivery. The eight-person jury deliberated for four hours before returning its verdict against a physician and a hospital.

The husband’s Ohio medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit alleged that his 34-year-old wife had pre-eclampsia or eclampsia during her pregnancy that the defendants had failed to diagnose, which resulted in her death from a gestational hypertension stroke. The plaintiff’s lawsuit alleged that the defendant physician, who died in January 2016, was not qualified to handle pregnancies with complications, and that the defendant physician failed to call in a more experienced OB when the plaintiff’s wife developed high blood pressure during her pregnancy and had vomiting, nausea, and headaches.

The woman was hospitalized from February 28, 2009 until March 3, 2009. The woman’s pregnancy was uneventful until February 29, 2009, when she advised the defendant physician that she had developed a cough, headaches, increased blood pressure from her baseline, and that she had gained an unusual amount of weight.

On March 2, 2009, the woman called the defendant physician to advise her that she had vaginal bleeding. During her hospital stay, medical testing revealed elevated blood pressures, falling platelets, increasing alkaline phosphate, and a grossly increased D-Dimer, which are signs and symptoms consistent with pre-eclampsia. Nonetheless, the woman was discharged from the hospital by the defendant physician despite the medical test results and her symptoms, and without any further obstetrical consultation.

Later in the afternoon following her discharge from the hospital, the woman returned to the hospital complaining of extremely high blood pressure, headaches, and vomiting, which led to the woman’s readmission to the hospital. Despite the serious decline in the woman’s condition, the defendant physician failed to return to the hospital to care for her patient.

During the early morning on March 4, 2009, the woman was found unresponsive and a code was called. An emergency Cesarean section was performed in order to save the baby. Sadly, the woman’s condition continued to deteriorate and she died. The cause of death was determined to be intracranial hemorrhage caused by the failure to  treat the woman’s pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.

The plaintiff’s son was hospitalized for two weeks following his birth. Fortunately, the child had no long-term adverse health consequences due to the circumstances of his birth.

The Ohio medical malpractice wrongful death jury awarded $2,250,000 for the wrongful death claim, $2,149,378 for loss of future earnings, and $1,668,452 in other damages.