Jury Finds Tufts Doctors Negligent in Newborn's Care, $24.4 Million Verdict Reduced to $5.3 Million
After trial: The jury awarded about $24.4 million (about $30 million with interest), but a pre-verdict high/low agreement limited payment to $5.3 million, covered by insurance. We found no report of an appeal.
Won by Lubin & Meyer.
A Suffolk County jury found in November 2013 that two Tufts Medical Center doctors were negligent in the 2004 care of a premature newborn from Lowell. Parts of the boy's intestines had to be removed, and he now needs continuous tube feeding. The jury's award was about $24.4 million, but a high/low agreement the parties made before the verdict set payment at $5.3 million, which is the amount that stood.
What happened
In 2004, a boy from Lowell was born prematurely at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. His family alleged that, after he developed symptoms of a potentially fatal condition that affects premature infants, two doctors and a neonatal nurse practitioner did not take appropriate measures in response. Portions of his intestines later had to be surgically removed.
Because so much of the intestine was lost, the result is a syndrome that leaves him unable to digest food normally. By the time of trial he was 9 years old. He is fed through a tube continuously overnight and needs additional treatment during the day. His parents described a constant worry about his care. Daily life for the family is organized around his feeding schedule and medical treatment.
The Xu family sued Dr. Theresa Willett, Dr. John Fiascone and the nurse practitioner, Roberta Bowen. The defense position, set out in court filings, was that all of the care and treatment complied with the applicable standard of care. Tufts said the infant had been monitored closely by a team of experienced medical experts.
The case was tried in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, nine years after the birth, with Benjamin R. Novotny of Lubin & Meyer representing the family. In November 2013 the jury found Dr. Willett and Dr. Fiascone negligent. It found the nurse practitioner not liable.
The jury's award was about $24.4 million, which grew to roughly $30 million with interest. Before the verdict, though, the two sides had signed a high/low agreement, a private arrangement that fixes a minimum and a maximum payment whatever the jury decides. Because the jury sided with the family, the agreed maximum of $5.3 million applied, to be paid by insurance. The family's lawyers noted that a judgment of about $30 million had been entered and that other avenues remained open to them.
Under the agreement, insurance covers the $5.3 million. No appeal has been reported, and lawyers for the doctors had no comment after the verdict.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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