$31.6 Million Birth Injury Verdict Against MyMichigan Medical Center, Reported as the First Medical Malpractice Trial Win for a Patient in Midland County

The Berthiaume family's daughter was born on December 20, 2018, at the hospital now known as MyMichigan Medical Center-Midland. During labor, her mother received Pitocin, a drug used to induce or strengthen contractions. According to the evidence presented at trial, the fetal monitor strips showed the baby was in distress caused by excessive uterine activity from the Pitocin, and she needed to be delivered by immediate cesarean section. The medication was not stopped. The cesarean did not happen in time. Deprived of oxygen, the baby suffered severe and permanent brain damage.

She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia, and a seizure disorder. By the time the case reached trial she was four years old and facing a lifetime of round-the-clock care.

The family sued MyMichigan Medical Center-Midland in Midland County Circuit Court. Matthew Patterson of Beam Legal Team, a Chicago firm that concentrates on birth injury cases, tried the case before Judge Stephen Carras. Patterson, who also serves as of counsel to Michigan's Fieger Law, argued over three weeks of trial that hospital staff ignored what the monitor strips were telling them: the Pitocin was overstimulating the uterus, the baby was in trouble, and she needed to come out.

On May 25, 2023, after more than nine hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of $31.6 million for the child and her family. Local news coverage, including ABC12 and WSGW, reported it as the first trial victory for a medical malpractice plaintiff in the history of Midland County. The award was structured to cover the girl's medical and care needs for the rest of her life, along with other damages.

The hospital did not accept the outcome quietly. MyMichigan Health said in a statement that it sympathized with the family and the challenges they have faced and will face, but that it disagreed with the verdict and stood behind the care delivered by its team.

One piece of Michigan law matters when reading a number this large. Michigan caps noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases under MCL 600.1483, with a higher cap tier for the most severe injuries, including permanent brain injury resulting in loss of function. Economic damages, such as the cost of lifelong medical care, are not capped. That means the noneconomic portion of a Michigan med-mal verdict is typically reduced when the court enters judgment, while the economic portion stands. Public reporting on this case has not disclosed the verdict's split between economic and noneconomic damages, the final judgment amount after any cap reduction, or the status of any appeal. The hospital's statement disagreeing with the verdict is the last word either side has offered in press accounts.

The jury heard three weeks of evidence in a county where, per local reporting, no malpractice plaintiff had ever won at trial before.