News Stories, Research and Other Information for Injury Victims

Doctor Caused Brain Injuries of Cerebral Palsy Victim, Justice Rules

A Supreme Court Justice recently ruled that a doctor and nurse from Surrey Memorial Hospital were responsible for the catastrophic brain injuries of now 5-year-old Mirella Rochelle Steinebach, who suffers from a severe case of cerebral palsy (according to the BC Local News site).  Little Mirella is unable to swallow, speak, walk, or even turn herself over, and she suffers from frequent chest infections and pneumonia.  According to at least one specialist, she may not live past the age of 20.  Just how did this devastating injury occur? 

Cerebral palsy is a birth injury, and the negligence of the doctors in failing to treat Mirella's mother properly before and during labor resulted in the child's severe brain damage.  Specifically, the doctor failed to assess the mother when she arrived at the hospital, and the nurse did not report the electronic monitoring results that showed the baby was in distress in the womb.  According to Justice Ian Pittfield, the girl's brain damage was caused by oxygen deprivation that occurred sometime in the twenty minutes prior to the child's birth time of 5:37 a.m. on March 31, 2005. 

Although the doctor's written records gave the initial impression that no obvious symptoms appeared during labor, evidence indicates that comments were added to the notes after delivery and the discovery of oxygen deprivation.  According to a handwriting expert, not only were two different pens used in writing the notes, but parts of the notes were written at completely different times.

As a result, the Justice ruled that the negligent parties pay $730,000 to the victim's family in compensation, in addition to an amount to cover the cost of caring for the girl on a daily basis (that amount has not been determined yet).

If your child or another family member has suffered Virginia or Norfolk brain injuries as a result of medical malpractice, a car accident, or any other type of incident in which another party was negligent, feel free to contact Virginia brain injury lawyer and Norfolk medical malpractice attorney Lawrence Land.  He will answer your questions for free and provide you with the resources and assistance you need to ensure that your family member receives optimum medical care.  Contact Land online or toll-free at 800-800-1911.

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