The Hoboken University Medical Center recently agreed to settle birth injury claims with a Bayonne family for $7.1 million, resulting from their son being born with severe brain damage. The parents filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in 2017 naming the hospital and several doctors and nurses as defendants. The lawsuit alleged medical malpractice due to a delay in their son's delivery.
The family alleged a deviation from accepted standards of obstetrical care during the labor and delivery of the child. At one-day-old, the child was rushed to St. Joseph’s Medical Center where he was diagnosed with severe brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. The child, now 3 years old, is unable to walk or feed himself.
Assessments filed indicate that the child suffers from a range of medical issues stemming from the incident, and requires around the clock medical care. The complaint alleged that the family has and will continue to suffer far-ranging damages as a result of the defendants' negligence.
The initial suit named various doctors and nurses at the facility, but the settlement only named the hospital and the chairman of the obstetrics department. The settlement included no admission of guilt by the defendants. The settlement proceeds will be used to start a trust in the child's name for his medical care, as well as a structured settlement with monthly payouts.
