Parents of brain-damaged boy sue for $75M

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This article was published 24/09/2024 (698 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The parents of a four-year-old boy who suffered brain damage shortly after birth are suing St. Boniface Hospital, Canadian Blood Services and 15 doctors and nurses for $75 million in damages.

Toronto-based medical malpractice law firm Sommers Roth & Elmaleh filed the claim in the Court of King’s Bench last week on behalf of the parents and their son.

It names St. Boniface Hospital, Canadian Blood Services, and health-care workers at St. Boniface, where the boy was born, as well as at the Health Sciences Centre, where he received treatment in the neo-natal intensive care unit. The blood services agency is named as it provided blood transfusions, the claim says.

No statements of defence have been filed.

The lawsuit seeks $25 million in damages each for the mother, father and boy, as well as interest and court costs. The civil action alleges negligence and a breach of fiduciary duty.

The newborn suffered permanent brain damage, allegedly as a result of blood and immune system related disorders for which he was not properly treated, the claim alleges.

He will be confined to hospitals or his home for life with permanent mental and physical injuries, the lawsuit says.

“His ability to learn, work and earn income has been and will be impaired,” reads the Sept. 17 claim. “He has lost and will lose the ability to lead an independent life or otherwise provide for his own needs. His enjoyment of life has been and will be lessened.”

Prior to the boy’s birth, medical testing discovered Rh incompatibility, which is when the mother has Rh-negative blood and baby has Rh-positive blood, and can cause a slew of negative effects.

The mother went in to St. Boniface Hospital on Jan. 16, 2020, and gave birth the next day.

The infant was assessed and his cord blood was sent to be tested and screened, finding he had A-positive blood and antigen D, positive for maternal anti-D, which destroys positive red blood cells, the lawsuit says.

He was assessed as at-risk to develop late anemia and hemolytic disease of the newborn. A note to watch him for jaundice was also put on his file, the court papers say.

The court papers say the boy was then transferred to the neo-natal intensive care unit at HSC, where he was treated with blood transfusions and intravenous immunoglobulin, an antibody used to treat a compromised immune system.

He was discharged on Jan. 25, 2020, and found to have brain damage.

The court papers claim the hospital and medical staff were negligent in their treatment of the child, including by failing to test him for conditions including hyperbilirubinemia, hemolytic disease of the newborn or hyperbilirubinemia encephalopathy.

Hyperbilirubinemia encephalopathy, a neurological condition that can occur in newborns with jaundice, results in brain damage, according to the National Institute of Health in the U.S.

Further, the claim alleges, medical staff failed to properly interpret the results of any diagnostic testing or properly diagnose the boy’s condition, meaning the treatment he received was improper and increased the boy’s risk of brain damage and other injuries.

None of the defendants commented on the lawsuit on Monday.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca