On November 5, 1991, Victor Bergman and Mark Johnson obtained a jury verdict in Jackson County Circuit Court in the amount of $12.9 million in a medical malpractice case against an obstetrician and Humana Prime Health. The tragic events of the case occurred on October 18, 1987, when plaintiff Luanne Jones became increasingly concerned about the lack of movement of her thirty-six week old baby.
Ms. Jones testified at trial that when she called her HMO, Humana Prime Health, she was referred to the on call physician for that Sunday who told her to come in to the hospital for testing. The evidence showed that fetal monitoring done at the hospital revealed an unusual sinusoidal pattern that should have alerted the physician to the possibility of a fetal/maternal hemorrhage. Plaintiffs' experts testified an emergency caesarean section and an exchange transfusion at the time of delivery were required to prevent damage to the baby. Vic Bergman argued to the jury that the doctor failed to respond to the obvious warning signals. The caesarean section was delayed for eleven hours, and there was no transfusion at the time of birth.
We contended these mistakes resulted in severe fetal blood loss, oxygen deprivation, and profound neurological damage to plaintiff Devin Jones. Devin is a handsome young boy of four who has motor impairment from cerebral palsy and mental retardation. He will need custodial supervision and assistance for the remainder of his life. During the two week trial, expert witnesses in the fields of obstetrics, perinatology, neonatology, pediatric neurology, and rehabilitation economics were called as witnesses.
