Indiana Family Wins $2.4M Cerebral Palsy Settlement

The Hunt family of Steuben County, Indiana recently won $2.4 million in damages after a series of medical mistakes resulted in their daughter being born with cerebral palsy.

Kelly Force-Hunt, now 10 years old, was born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. Kelly's condition, which will forever prevent her from walking and talking, will require lifelong, round-the-clock treatment for her survival.

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is an incurable neurological condition with various symptoms, which may include:

• difficulty speaking
• drooling
• hearing and/or vision problems
• para- or quadriplegia
• seizures
• spasticity
• writhing of the extremities
• abnormal gait (such as keeping the knees touching while walking)

While some cases of cerebral palsy are due to fetal development complications, others result from mistakes made during the birthing process. In fact, any complication before or during birth that cuts off a baby's oxygen supply will put him/her at a significantly high risk of developing cerebral palsy.

Each year, about 10,000 American babies are born with cerebral palsy.

Details of Kelly's Birth

In 1998, Kelly's mother went to the Corning Hospital to give birth. After being admitted and hooked up to a fetal monitor, she was left in a room for over 40 minutes without being checked on by a nurse.

According to Corning Hospital policy, nurses are required to check on mothers in labor every 20 minutes.

During this 40 minute period, Kelly started exhibiting signs of distress. While an immediate C-section may have prevented cerebral palsy from developing in Kelly (or dramatically reduced the severity of it), the delayed in delivery severely deprived Kelly of oxygen, damaging her brain and contributing to her cerebral palsy.

To avoid a lengthy case, Corning Hospital settled with the Hunt family for $2.4 million, all of which has been put in a trust fund to pay for Kelly's necessary ongoing cerebral palsy treatments.

(Source: Ziff Law)

Do you have a family member living with cerebral palsy? If so, contact a cerebral palsy attorney more information and resources regarding your legal rights.