The plaintiff filed a Mississippi medical malpractice complaint in December 2002 on behalf of Cameron, alleging negligence on the part of Dr. Weber and The OB-GYN Group of Laurel. The complaint claimed that Dr. Weber breached the applicable standard of care by failing to recognize, appreciate, and respond to the signs and symptoms of fetal distress, ischemia, and/or hypoxia during the labor and delivery of Cameron. Cameron lived only to the age of five, dying on March 23, 2007. There was no dispute that he had significant neurological deficits that required continual and significant treatment over the course of his short life.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, awarding damages in the amount of $1.2 million for Cameron’s lost wages; $261,677.52 for Cameron’s past medical expenses; and, $2,538,322.48 for Cameron’s noneconomic damages. The trial court reduced the noneconomic jury award to $500,000, which left a total verdict of $1,961,677.52.
The defendants requested a JNOV or, in the alternative, a new trial, arguing that the plaintiff had failed to prove the causation element of her medical-negligence claim and thus, they were entitled to judgment in their favor as a matter of law.
The Supreme Court of Mississippi held: “We find that Dr. Lipton’s testimony coupled with Dr. Gonzalez’s testimony constitutes sufficient evidence on the issue of causation. Dr. Lipton provided testimony that Cameron’s HIE injury most likely occurred a few days before the November 27 CT scan, which was around the time of Cameron’s delivery. Dr. Gonzalez provided testimony that Cameron’s HIE injury was caused by uteroplacental insufficiency and cord compression during the labor process. From this evidence, we find that a juror could reasonably conclude that a timely C-section delivery would have provided Cameron with a greater-than-50-percent chance of a substantially better outcome … We find that this is a classic case of conflicting evidence that must be left to the jury to weigh and resolve. An evidentiary close call cannot be said to sanction an unconscionable injustice, nor is it against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Additionally, this Court must defer to the jury as the trier of fact and to the trial court’s determination regarding whether to grant or deny a new trial, unless its factual conclusions were unsupported by the evidence.”
The Supreme Court of Mississippi further held: “September 1, 2004, was the effective date of the statute, thus exempting the present case from the noneconomic-damages cap. Before the passage of Section 11-1-60, no medical-malpractice noneconomic-damages cap existed. Absent Section 11-1-60, the present action is governed under Mississippi Code Section 11-7-13 (Rev. 2019), which covers wrongful-death actions. Section 11-7-13 contains no cap for recovery on noneconomic damages. Accordingly, we find that the trial court erred by reducing the jury’s noneconomic-damages award.”
Source Weber v. Estate of Cameron Chase Hill, No. 2020-CA-00293-SCT.
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