A couple filed a wrongful birth lawsuit on Monday. They claim that the sonogram showing abnormalities in the fetus was sent to the wrong doctor with the same name as the treating obstetrician.
The mother, Jessica Young, learned of her baby’s problems days before her child, Antonio Jesse McLeod, was prematurely born. The baby was born with a hole in his diaphragm and suffered other complications. The parents assert that they were not given enough notification to make an “informed decision” about their child, who will suffer injuries for the rest of his life. The baby’s father estimated that the baby’s “lifetime of care” would most likely cost more than $20 million. The couple’s attorney, Michael Snyder, argues that had they known sooner, the couple could have terminated the pregnancy.
American Radiology Services and Insurers, The John Hopkins Health System Corporation, and Dr. Karen Y. Perkins (Young’s ob-gyn) were all named the defendants.
In another case, on Monday, Michael Snyder filed another lawsuit against Hopkins on behalf of a woman from Baltimore. She claims she received a botched surgery that left her partially paralyzed. Elizabeth Wright received treatment for bleeding that appeared in her lungs. She went through the procedure in January 2009 and returned a month later for more treatments.
Doctors tried to stop the bleeding, but found that it affected the blood flow in the artery to the spinal artery. Doctors still tried to fix the lung’s artery, despite the new discovery.
The claim alleges that Wright loss the use of her left leg, with numbness in her left side. Confined to a wheelchair, Wright says her care can cost her up to $10 million.