TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Tulsa County jury has awarded $15 million to a 7-year-old girl who suffered catastrophic and permanent brain damage as an infant after a pediatric emergency room physician failed to act on clear laboratory signs of bacterial infection and discharged her without obtaining a blood culture or giving antibiotics.<\/p>
\nIn December 2018, 5-month-old August Montgomery was taken to a Tulsa-area emergency room for what was described as a respiratory illness with fever, vomiting, lethargy, and decreased urine output. This was her third visit to a hospital over the course of the preceding five days. Although lab results indicated \u201ctextbook signals of bacterial infection,\u201d the treating physician diagnosed August with a \u201cpossible viral\u201d illness without ordering additional bloodwork or prescribing antibiotics.<\/p>
\nLess than 48 hours later, she was rushed back to the same emergency room suffering from partial paralysis and seizures. A lumbar puncture revealed she had bacterial meningitis. She spent 44 days in the hospital, marked by brain surgery and multiple strokes.<\/p>
\nAt trial, plaintiffs\u2019 experts testified that a blood culture would have detected the presence of the streptococcus bacteria in less than 24 hours and a single dose of ceftriaxone administered during the third visit would have sterilized August's bloodstream within approximately two hours and prevented the bacterial meningitis that followed. The plaintiff's standard-of-care expert testified that \"once you order a CBC, and it shows abnormally elevated white blood cells you cannot ignore that result.\"<\/p>
\nThe jury deliberated for approximately four hours before awarding $15 million in future medical care costs and lost earnings.<\/p>
\n\"This verdict is about August and what was needlessly taken from her,\" said Jeffrey Rasansky of Dallas-based Rasansky | McKenzie, trial counsel for the Montgomery family. \"Every sign of bacterial infection was right there in front of the treating physician. The labs were in the chart. The patient\u2019s history was in front of her. And the path that would have prevented all of this, a blood culture and a single dose of antibiotics, was on the table, but was not chosen.<\/p>
\n\u201cThe jury saw what happened, and they did something no one had done for August in the seven years since. They acted.\"<\/p>
\nNow at age 7, August relies on cochlear implants to hear, has cerebral palsy with severe cognitive delays and functions at the developmental level of a 15- to 18-month-old.<\/p>
\n\u201cAugust was born a happy, healthy child,\u201d said trial co-counsel Sharon Morgan, a Partner at Wais, Vogelstein Forman Koch & Norman LLC. \u201cAugust\u2019s injuries were entirely preventable if only this physician had met the standard of care. Because of this doctor\u2019s inaction, August will require ongoing medical treatment, adaptive equipment and attendant care for the rest of her life. We are thankful to the jury for helping ensure that will be possible.\u201d<\/p>
\nThe six-day trial in Montgomery v. Katie Jackson, M.D.<\/i>, et. al.<\/i> was heard before Judge Kevin Gray in Tulsa County District Court. The Montgomery family was represented by Mr. Rasansky and by Ms. Morgan and Natalie D\u2019Antonio with Wais, Vogelstein Forman Koch & Norman LLC.<\/p>
\nAbout Rasansky | McKenzie<\/b><\/p>
\nRasansky | McKenzie, is a Dallas-based plaintiffs firm representing families in catastrophic medical malpractice, birth injury, nursing home negligence and wrongful death matters. Jeff Rasansky has more than 35 years of trial experience and has tried cases involving complex malpractice issues including pediatric birth injury, cerebral palsy, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and bacterial meningitis across multiple jurisdictions. The firm maintains MyCerebralPalsyChild.org as a national educational resource for families navigating cerebral palsy and birth injury cases.<\/p>
\nAbout Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman LLC<\/b><\/p>
\nWais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman LLC is a Baltimore-based plaintiffs firm with a national practice focused on catastrophic medical malpractice, birth injury and pediatric brain injury cases. The firm's attorneys have successfully tried complex pediatric injury cases involving cerebral palsy, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, bacterial meningitis and missed diagnoses across the country.<\/p>