A Beaver County jury ruled doctors misdiagnosed pregnancy complications and awarded $4.1 million to a 6-year-old boy born prematurely and suffering from developmental problems as a result.
A Beaver County jury deliberated for two days before finding The Medical Center in Beaver and obstetrician Dr. James Crozier negligent yesterday in Randy Charles Ross' March 29, 1997, birth.
According to court documents, the boy's mother, Catherine Ross, of Monaca, called Crozier the day before the birth and told the doctor she had pain from her waist up and was vomiting.
According to the lawsuit, Crozier told her she was suffering from tension and told her to go to the emergency room at The Medical Center in Beaver, about 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
At the hospital Ross waited for about 6 1/2 hours in the emergency room before she was diagnosed with eclampsia, or seizures caused by a rise in blood pressure that can force early delivery of the baby, sometimes endangering the lives of both mother and child.
Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section and the boy was born 8 1/2 weeks premature.
Worldwide, pre-eclampsia -- a sudden increase in blood pressure in late pregnancy -- and eclampsia occur in about 10 percent of pregnant women and account for about 12 percent of pregnancy-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The condition is more common in developing countries.
According to Harry Cohen, an attorney for the family, Randy eats with a feeding tube, suffers from heart and developmental problems and likely will not lead a normal life.
"Even if he's able to get a job someday, he's only going to be able to get an entry-level job," Cohen said. "He won't be able to do anything beyond that."
"I don't want people to think that this child hit the lottery, that he's some sort of winner ... He's going to have big problems down the road. He was hurt badly," Cohen said.
Cohen said the award will be placed in a court-supervised trust that can only be used for the boy. His past treatment has cost $400,000 and further treatment is expected to cost $350,000, Cohen said.
The boy's father, also named Randy Ross, declined comment last night.
Hospital officials were disappointed by the verdict and were considering whether to appeal, said spokesman Scott Monit.
Crozier could not be reached for comment. He joined doctors across the state this week in a walkout to protest high malpractice insurance rates. He did not return a message left at his office and did not have a listed home phone number.
