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Highest Malpractice Award in Michigan History From: Marilyn Ringst (marilyncnm@hotmail.com) Wed May 30 18:10:43 2001 Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ] Next message: Garry Siegel: "Re: Within or outside the standard of care - Long" Previous message: Joanne Bulley: "Re: Menorrhagia" Woman Receives Highest Malpractice Award in Michigan History After Obstetrician Misses Birth of Child In what is believed to be the largest medical malpractice verdict in Michigan history, Washtenaw County last week awarded Dawn Goll with $23 million for the "inexplicable" absence of her obstetrician during the birth of her fourth child, who has brain damage due to complications during labor, the Detroit News reports. Goll had arranged for obstetrician Lawrence Schrock to "personally oversee" the birth of the child, Sierra, to help prevent complications that caused her third child to be born with mild brain damage. However, Schrock missed the birth, and Sierra also suffered permanent brain damage. Howard Victor, Goll's attorney, said during the week-long trial that Sierra's brain damage was due to a "lack of blood flow to her brain in the crucial last hours before her birth." During that time, hospital equipment indicated that Sierra had a "quickened heartbeat," and Sierra's father, Gregory Goll, signaled for help with a button three times. Victor said, "After the third time [Gregory] was told to stop playing with the buttons. According to (Schrock's) own notes, he hadn't been in the room for two hours." But Schrock's attorney, James Brazeau, said that Sierra's birth "seemed normal to everyone at the time, even though the doctor wasn't present." Schrock, who is now retired in Florida, could not explain why he missed the birth, "in part because the Goll lawsuit wasn't filed until years afterward." In addition, physicians testifying on behalf of Schrock said that Sierra's brain damage was "probably genetic and existed before she was born." But a doctor for the Golls stated that an MRI exam taken before Sierra's birth indicated "none of the problems that would be typical if the brain damage existed before her birth" (Hansen, the Detroit News, 5/29). -- Marilyn Ringstaff, CNM Marilyn.Ringstaff@obgyn.net Next message: Garry Siegel: "Re: Within or outside the standard of care - Long" Previous message: Joanne Bulley: "Re: Menorrhagia"

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