Health Law

Air Force Settles - $5,000,000

In 2004 William Duckworth was working as a civilian employee at Kadena Air Base in Japan.  His daughter Aubrey was born at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Okinawa in September of 2004.

Because her mother's uterus ruptured during birth Aubrey was not  receiving oxygen and, as a result, is severely disabled.  She must be fed through a tube implanted in her stomach, suffers from blindness and spastic cerebral palsy. 

Spastic Cerebral Palsy, the most common type, is a disorder in which certain muscles are stiff and weak.  The stiffness can occur mainly in the legs (diplegia), only in the arm and leg of the same side (hemiplegia) or in both arms and both legs (quadriplegia).  A wide-based, staggering, or "scissors" gait is characteristic of this type.  

According to Patrick Malone, the family attorney, the family brought a claim under the Military Claims Act alleging that a nurse midwife, Laura A. Bennett, was grossly negligent and guilty of malpractice for trying to manage a complex and high-risk delivery without calling in an obstetrician.

Last month, Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Wynn approved the settlement.  Most of the money will be set aside to pay for Aubrey's continuing medical and nursing care.  The Air Force is responsible for the settlement because it has “single service authority” over injury claims at all U.S. government facilities in Japan according to federal regulations.

We were involved in a case similar to this many years ago.  One of the interesting parts is that in these overseas' cases there is often no right to a jury trial, so the often the only way to resolve the military malpractice at all is to work up the case as best you can and settle.

.

Full post as published by Cerebral Palsy Law Blog on May 14, 2008 (boomark / email).