$29 Million Verdict Upheld in Failure to Diagnose Case

A $29 million verdict against a medical clinic in Erie Pennsylvania has been upheld by a federal appeals court. The family had originally filed suit against the US government because it funded the clinic and alleged that Christian’s cerebral palsy was caused by medical practitioners’ failure to diagnose a brain infection. According to court documents, the medical staff failed to recognize the signs of the brain infection, including the child’s inability to see, for 12 hours. The delay allowed the infection to spread since it was not treated with antibiotics.
According to news sources, “The U.S. government argued that Arroyo’s parents filed the case after the statute of limitations, based on when they reasonably should have known that their son’s brain damage was caused by a medical mistake. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected that argument last week, upholding the verdict.”