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Date: 03-28-2006
Case Style: Mark and Lori Pochron, parents and next friends of Marissa Pochron, a minor, v. Monongalia General Hospital, et al.
Case Number: Unknown
Judge: Unknown
Court: Circuit Court, Monongalia County, West Virginia
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Geoffrey Fieger, Southfield, Michigan
Defendant's Attorney: Unknown
Description:
Mark and Lori Pochron, parents and next friends of Marissa Pochron, a minor, sued Monongalia General Hospital, et al. on a medical malpractice theory claiming that defendants acted below the standard of care and were negligent during the labor and delivery process with the result that Marissa was deprived of oxygen and suffered severe brain damage. Plaintiffs claimed that as a direct result of the negligence to the defendants, Marissa is a spastic quadriplegic with brain damage in the cortex which limits her ability to think. As a result, she will probably not progress beyond nine years of age. Marissa cannot see and she must be taken care of 24-hours-a-day. Marissa knows who she is and she knows what she is and she knows that there is something wrong with her, but she does not understand according to her parents and experts. Plaintiffs claimed that the hospital's nurses left her alone in a room after she was born. Marissa was later found blue and not breathing and was revived but too late.
The defenses asserted by Defendants are not available.
Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict for $17 million including $12 million in economic damages and $5 million non-economic damages (capped at $1 million by West Virginia law).
Plaintiff's Experts: Unknown
Defendant's Experts: Unknown
Comments:
Editor's Note: Limits on non-economic damages arbritarily deprive plaintiffs like Marissa of adequate compensation for the injuries that they have sustained as a result of the negligent acts, errors and omissions of others. As a result, after they have paid the costs and expenses associated with successfully prosecuting their claims, they are left with inadequate compensation to care for themselves over their anticipated life expectancies.