A North Carolina medical malpractice jury determined that a third-year resident at WakeMed in Raleigh, North Carolina was negligent in her handling of the delivery of a baby boy on September 17, 2029, when the baby’s shoulder becoming stuck behind his mother’s pelvis (shoulder dystocia) and the resident allegedly failed to provide proper care and treatment to avoid the baby suffering Erb’s palsy (permanent injury to nerves in the shoulder and arm).
The resident reportedly rotated the baby’s head, which had been delivered, while his shoulder and the rest of his body were stuck. It took two minutes to deliver the baby, at which time his body was limp and he was not breathing and had to be resuscitated. The baby spent nine days in the neonatal intensive care unit, where his left arm remained limp. The plaintiffs’ medical malpractice lawyers argued that the child’s injuries were preventable if the third-year resident had not breached the standard of care during labor and delivery.
The infant underwent surgery at six months of age in an attempt to repair the nerve damage, but the surgery was not totally successful and the child now suffers from permanent weakness, limited use of his left arm. and disfigurement. He requires assistance getting dressed, using the bathroom, and opening containers due to his injuries.
On July 13, 2026, a North Carolina birth injury jury awarded $18.2 million to the child and his mother ($17.7 million for the child and $500,000 for the mother), after a three-week trial. The verdict includes $2.2 million for economic damages and $16 million for noneconomic damages. The noneconomic damages award is subject to substantial reduction – to $712,847 – pursuant to North Carolina’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases (unless the jury finds gross negligence, inter alia). The jury found that the third-year resident had not been grossly negligent. The jury also determined that three other medical professionals were not negligent.
A WakeMed spokesperson stated after the verdict: “WakeMed is committed to providing a safe environment for patients to receive care and for future generations of health care providers to learn.”
North Carolina’s Cap On Noneconomic Damages In Medical Malpractice Cases
§ 90‑21.19. Liability limit for noneconomic damages.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, in any medical malpractice action in which the plaintiff is entitled to an award of noneconomic damages, the total amount of noneconomic damages for which judgment is entered against all defendants shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). Judgment shall not be entered against any defendant for noneconomic damages in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for all claims brought by all parties arising out of the same professional services.
On January 1 of every third year, beginning with January 1, 2014, the Office of State Budget and Management shall reset the limitation on damages for noneconomic loss set forth in this subsection to be equal to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) times the ratio of the Consumer Price Index for November of the prior year to the Consumer Price Index for November 2011. The Office of State Budget and Management shall inform the Revisor of Statutes of the reset limitation. The Revisor of Statutes shall publish this reset limitation as an editor’s note to this section. In the event that any verdict or award of noneconomic damages stated pursuant to G.S. 90‑21.19B exceeds these limits, the court shall modify the judgment as necessary to conform to the requirements of this subsection.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, there shall be no limit on the amount of noneconomic damages for which judgment may be entered against a defendant if the trier of fact finds both of the following:
(1) The plaintiff suffered disfigurement, loss of use of part of the body, permanent injury or death.
(2) The defendant’s acts or failures, which are the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries, were committed in reckless disregard of the rights of others, grossly negligent, fraudulent, intentional or with malice.
(c) The following definitions apply in this section:
(1) Consumer Price Index. – The Consumer Price Index – All Urban Consumers, for the South urban area, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor.
(2) Noneconomic damages. – Damages to compensate for pain, suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, inconvenience, and any other nonpecuniary compensatory damage. “Noneconomic damages” does not include punitive damages as defined in G.S. 1D‑5.
(3) Same professional services. – The transactions, occurrences, or series of transactions or occurrences alleged to have caused injury to the health care provider’s patient.
(d) Any award of damages in a medical malpractice action shall be stated in accordance with G.S. 90‑21.19B. If a jury is determining the facts, the court shall not instruct the jury with respect to the limit of noneconomic damages under subsection (a) of this section, and neither the attorney for any party nor a witness shall inform the jury or potential members of the jury panel of that limit. (2011‑400, s. 7; 2015‑40, s. 9.)
If you or your baby were harmed as a result of medical malpractice during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or shortly after giving birth in North Carolina or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a North Carolina medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your birth injury medical negligence claim for you and represent you and your baby in a birth injury medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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