$38.5 Million for a Twin Left With Cerebral Palsy After a 25-Minute Delay in an Emergency Cesarean
After trial: Post-trial motions to set aside the verdict were denied and interest was added to the $38.5 million. An appeal was docketed in the Connecticut Supreme Court for argument in December 2011, but no decision has been reported, and the firm's statement that the verdict was upheld is unconfirmed.
Won by Silver Golub & Teitell LLP.
Elizabeth Oram delivered twins at Stamford Hospital on April 4, 2003. The first was born healthy at 3:11 a.m. Two minutes later the second twin showed fetal distress from a compressed umbilical cord, but the cesarean was not completed until 3:38 a.m. The boy was born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. After a seven-week trial, a Stamford jury found obstetrician Dr. Corinne de Cholnoky liable in February 2008 and awarded $38.5 million, then the largest medical malpractice verdict in Connecticut.
What happened
Elizabeth Oram was carrying twins when she was admitted to Stamford Hospital in the early hours of April 4, 2003. Her obstetrician was Dr. Corinne de Cholnoky, who practiced privately in Stamford. The first twin, a girl, was delivered vaginally at 3:11 a.m. and was healthy.
At 3:13 a.m. the monitors showed the second twin in distress. The umbilical cord was compressed and the baby's heart rate had dropped sharply, cutting off the oxygen supply to his brain. The plaintiffs' case was that this was the moment to move to an emergency cesarean, and that de Cholnoky waited far too long before deciding to operate. The cesarean was not completed until 3:38 a.m., about 25 minutes after the distress was first noted. The Orams' son was born with severe, permanent brain damage. He has cerebral palsy and quadriplegia and will need care for the rest of his life. His twin sister, born 27 minutes earlier, was unharmed.
Elizabeth and Simon Oram sued on their son's behalf and in their own right, naming de Cholnoky and Stamford Hospital. Richard A. Silver and Angelo A. Ziotas of Silver Golub & Teitell tried the case; James Rosenblum of Rosenblum & Newfield defended the doctor and Eric J. Stockman of Neubert, Pepe & Monteith defended the hospital. The trial in Stamford Superior Court lasted seven weeks.
In February 2008 the six-person jury found de Cholnoky liable and cleared Stamford Hospital and its staff. It awarded $30 million for the cost of the boy's past and future care over a life expectancy of about 50 years, $7.5 million for his own pain and suffering, and $1 million to his mother for the emotional distress of the delivery: $38.5 million in all. The Insurance Journal reported it as the largest medical malpractice award in Connecticut history, ahead of a $36.5 million verdict against Hartford Hospital in 2005.
The defense moved to set the verdict aside, arguing that the jury instructions let the panel award damages for injuries unrelated to the doctor's negligence, that a separate cause-in-fact instruction was required, and that the evidence did not support the instruction on an untimely cesarean. The trial court rejected each argument and also awarded the plaintiffs offer-of-judgment interest, holding that Probate Court approval of the offer was not required. De Cholnoky appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court (SC 18437 and 18440), where the case was assigned for argument in December 2011.
The Supreme Court never published a decision. The firm has said the verdict was upheld on appeal, but no opinion, dismissal order or reported settlement could be located, and the appeal was most likely resolved by the parties after argument was scheduled. What is independently documented is the verdict itself and the trial court's refusal to disturb it.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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