Boy Who Waited 8 Minutes for Breathing Tube Wins $8.45 Million Verdict In Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit - Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC

GAINESVILLE, Ga., Oct. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A Georgia jury on Oct. 21 awarded $8.45 million to a severely injured boy, finding staff at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center failed to follow medical standards of care during his delivery in 2008.

Jakob Medley, now 5, waited eight minutes for the breathing tube he desperately needed when he was delivered because the hospital's neonatal resuscitation team was busy and back-up help wasn't called, according to court documents.  Although fetal monitoring showed Jakob wasn't getting enough oxygen and an early delivery by cesarean section might be needed, a physician was never called, the documents said.

Jakob, who lives in Auburn, suffers from cerebral palsy, developmental delays, disfigurement, seizures, cannot walk or talk, and is fed through a tube in his stomach, said his attorneys, Gerald Jowers and Kenneth Suggs, of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC.

"This verdict will provide for the extraordinary care Jakob will need the rest of his life.  The jury made sure that the hospital and its liability insurance company will pay for that care, not taxpayers," said Jowers.

"Verdicts like this send a message to hospitals and medical staff everywhere that standards of medical care are there to protect patients," added Suggs. "In a hospital this size, there's no excuse for not having backup available. No child in an emergency situation should have to wait."

Janet, Jenner & Suggs is a nationally noted birth-injury and cerebral palsy law firm with offices in eight states and Washington, D.C.  The firm also litigates other high profile injury cases, including most recently the class action against Johns Hopkins Hospital on behalf of more than 9,000 patients of OBGYN Dr. Nikita Levy.  The class action, which produced an unprecedented $190 million settlement, alleged, among other things, that Levy, a Johns Hopkins Hospital employee, used cameras hidden in pens and other devices to secretly take explicit photographs and videos of patients during pelvic exams.

The case is Medley vs. Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Civil Action 125V362N, filed in State Court of Hall County, Georgia.  The award was assessed against the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.  According to the online legal research service Westlaw, the verdict is the largest ever rendered in Hall County.

Janet, Jenner & Suggs has represented clients in a majority of the United States and in the District of Columbia.  The firm practices nationwide on a Pro Hoc Vice basis (with permission of the court).

Contact:
Teresa Kelly
1-512-328-4276
[email protected]

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SOURCE Janet, Jenner & Suggs