A Manhattan woman has won a $10 million jury verdict for her claim that her son was born brain-damaged when Metropolitan Hospital repeatedly turned her away while she was in labor.
“Maria Lara was about to have her fourth child and knew she was in labor and about ready to deliver. If [hospital officials] had only listened to her,” her son Brevenick “would be a perfectly healthy, normal boy today,” said the woman’s lawyer, Judith Livingston.
Instead, the 10-year-old suffers from cerebral palsy and will require around-the-clock care for the rest of his life.
The lawyer for the hospital, Brendan Lantier, said Metropolitan had nothing to do with the boy’s injuries. He’s seeking to have the verdict set aside.
Livingston said Lara, 36, went to Metropolitan on Feb. 22, 1990, and told staff members she was in labor. After a quick examination, the lawyer said, hospital officials told her she was wrong, and told her to go home.
Livingston said the expectant mom then went to the labor-delivery emergency area of the hospital and asked for another examination. She said staffers again told her client to leave.
A short time later, fearing her son would be born any minute, Lara returned to the hospital and asked to be admitted – but was turned down. This time, Livingston said, hospital officials suggested she walk around for an hour and a half, and then come back.
She said Lara went back before the 90 minutes were up, and begged to be admitted. This time, staffers decided to re-examine her, but it was too late.
Brevenick was born as Lara was being helped onto the examination table.
“It was a traumatic delivery that occurred in a very fast, improperly controlled fashion,” Livingston said, adding that Brevenick suffered head trauma and bleeding in the brain as a result.
Lantier said Lara’s version of events was unbelievable because the boy didn’t show any health problems until five months later.
He said she and her son still go to Metropolitan for care.