Jury Awards $9.6M for Brain Damage
A Passaic County jury awarded $9.6 million to a Paterson couple who claimed their son was born with brain damage because a midwife and an obstetrician failed to perform a Caesarean section.
The plaintiffs will receive a total of $3 million because the obstetrician, who was assigned the brunt of the verdict, settled as the jury was deliberating.
Lataiva Maggette, now 20, went to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson on October 26, 2001 to give birth. Starting at 10 p.m., a fetal monitor showed decelerations in heart rate, culminating in a precipitous drop after 1 a.m., according to evidence presented at trial.
The baby, Jaques Maggette Jr., suffered oxygen deprivation and will never be able to talk, walk or live on his own.
The jury found certified nurse-midwife Gail Rivera 20 percent liable and Dr. Maria Bitar 80 percent liable. During deliberations, Bitar settled for the $1 million limit on her policy. Rivera's 20 percent of the verdict and prejudgement interest, minus a $180,000 Medicaid lien, will bring the total gross recovery to about $3 million.
This case summary appeared in the February 28, 2005 Suits and Deals section of the New Jersey Law Journal. More detailed information on this suit can be read there.