$2.3 Million Verdict in Obstetric Malpractice Case

Following a five day trial in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, attorneys Daniel S. Weinstock and Carolyn M. Chopko won a $2.3 million verdict on behalf of a man and woman who lost their son as a result of brain damage suffered during labor and delivery. Although the child’s brain injury at birth was quite severe, he lived for about 2 years in a nearly vegetative condition.

Attorneys Weinstock and Chopko mounted a very powerful argument that the Certified Nurse Midwife who had managed the pregnancy and labor violated both the hospital protocols for nurse midwives and the standard of care by failing to call in a physician when the fetal monitoring strips became abnormal and non-reassuring. They argued if a Board Certified Obstetrician had been notified, he or she would have immediately expedited delivery, either by use of forceps or a vacuum extractor. Instead, the baby was born following a period of nearly an hour and a half of fetal distress.

The verdict is believed to be the largest personal injury verdict ever awarded by a Cumberland County jury.