Estefania Mesa was 28-years-old when she went to Hoboken University Medical Center on July 20, 2020 to deliver her first child at nearly 40 weeks of pregnancy. A C-section delivery was performed after the baby was determined to be in fetal distress. The family claimed in their New Jersey medical malpractice lawsuit that Mesa suffered a heart attack during the delivery due to the medical negligence of the anesthesiologist.
Mesa suffered catastrophic harm as a result, causing her be in a persistent minimally conscious state. Mesa was transferred to a rehabilitation facility on November 5, 2020, after spending nearly four months in ICU. The family settled the New Jersey medical malpractice case on October 15, 2024 in the amount of $11.9 million: CarePoint agreed to contribute $10 million to the settlement, the anesthesiologist will pay $900,000, and the anesthesiology practice agreed to pay $1 million.
The family’s New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer stated in the documents submitted for the settlement that was approved by the court: “Ms. Mesa and her family were not only victims of Dr. Zaklama’s gross negligence and malpractice, but also of CarePoint Hospital’s system-wide failures that were permitted to persist amidst a culture of concealment and willful corporate ignorance and greed. While this case could have been litigated as one for simple medical malpractice, as this case progressed, it became clear that it was the Defendants’ collective deceitful and sordid practices and conduct are what ultimately gave rise to the conditions that allowed the events that transpired on July 20, 2020 to occur.”
The family’s lawyer described Mesa’s current condition in the settlement documents: “Ms. Mesa is still unable to verbally communicate, express her needs or concerns adequately, eat solid food or feed herself unassisted, walk, and go about the activities of daily living without total assistance. Nursing staff feed her liquid nutrition through a tube in her abdominal wall. … She is in a minimally conscious state as she can follow certain commands, track the movement of individuals within her room, and immediately recognize certain individuals such as [fiance Eduardo] Argueta, and Emma Argueta, her now four-year-old daughter.”
“Apart from Dr. Zaklama, all of the other healthcare professionals who were in O.R. 2, rendering care to Ms. Mesa testified at their depositions that they could not hear or see the Mindray DPM 7 Vital Sign Monitor (‘Mindray DPM 7’), which would have alarmed in such a situation had it not been silenced by Dr. Zaklama. Ms. Mesa’s case is far from being just a case of tragic medical malpractice. The extensive discovery involved in this case led to a conclusion that CarePoint HUMC, through Defendant Hudson Anesthesiology Services, LLC allowed an anesthesiologist with a checkered history, questionable ethics and skills to stay on staff,” was reportedly stated in the family’s settlement documents.
If you or your baby suffered a birth injury (or worse) during labor and/or delivery in New Jersey or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a birth injury lawyer in your state who may investigate your birth injury claim for you and represent you and your child in a birth injury medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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