On April 28, 2024, a jury returned a verdict in a birth injury case in Detroit, Michigan of $120,000,000. The lawyer, Brian McKeen, is a close friend of Snyder & Wenner, Arizona’s Birth Injury Law Firm.
The case involved a young boy, K’Jon, who has been diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy. He is blind and cannot speak or walk. As if that were not bad enough, all of his injuries were completely preventable. K’Jon’s mom went to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit to deliver her child. The hospital did not recognize significant signs of oxygen and blood flow deprivation. In fact, the fetal heart tracings were non-reassuring, a sign that the baby is in distress due to lack of oxygen. Rather than deliver K’Jon in a timely manner, the hospital delayed. This delay resulted in profound brain damage.
Birth injury cases are so important because the effects are life-changing and devastating. Children who suffer hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) will not only have significant physical injuries, but they will also have enormous medical bills. They require constant therapies and supervision. These medical bills (called “special damages” in Arizona) can total $20 million to $50 million over the course of the child’s life. That is on top of all the pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and damage to the children’s relationships.
In November 2023, Brian Snyder from Snyder & Wenner obtained the largest medical malpractice verdict in Arizona history against Banner Health. The birth injury case involved a 9-year-old boy who suffered an HIE brain injury because the Banner nurses failed to recognize the signs of fetal distress on the fetal heart tracings, just like in K’Jon’s case. This is a continued problem, and until hospitals put measures in place to prevent birth injuries from occurring, children across Arizona will continue to suffer.
If you have wondered whether my child suffered a birth injury, contact Arizona’s Birth Injury Law Firm, Snyder & Wenner, a birth injury lawyer near you, today.
