Leyvas v. Paragas
- Resolution Date:
- February 2003
- Practice Areas:
- Medical Malpractice
- Synopsis:
- Andrew Leyvas was born with jaundice. The hospital released him without adequate testing or treatment. His parents sought medical help four days later. On June 7, 1997, his father telephoned Dr. Norma Paragas, a pediatrician who was on call for the child's regular doctor. Andrew's mother called a second time several hours later. Both parents reported that the baby's skin was yellow and he was experiencing difficulty feeding. Immediate examination is the standard of care for jaundiced babies. Dr. Paragas did not request to see the baby and failed to recognize that both calls dealt with the same baby. The parents, concerned about the apathy displayed by Paragas, called the emergency room. Twelve hours after initially speaking with Paragas, Andrew was finally admitted to the hospital. Medical tests found him to be suffering from hyperbilirubinemia and kernicterus, conditions found in newborn babies when their livers cannot break down a blood waste called bilirubin. Bilirubin becomes a potent neurotoxin if allowed to accumulate in the body. The firm contended that proper diagnosis and treatment did not begin until the doctor turned the case over to a neonatal specialist on June 8. The poisoning of Andrew's brain, due to a delay in treatment caused him to become a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. The plaintiffs maintained that the doctor was dismissive of the parents' initial concerns regarding their baby, inattentive to the infant's symptoms and failed to competently deal with the baby's problems. The case tried to verdict.
- Attorneys:
-
Cynthia McGuinn
William Veen
Miles Cooper - Resolution:
- $84.3 Million