Michigan mom, son awarded $120M in malpractice lawsuit over delayed C-section

A Wayne County jury awarded a mother and her 13-year-old son $120 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Henry Ford Health System. The family's lawyers contended the boy suffered brain damage when an attending obstetrician and four nurses didn't perform a timely Caesarean section on his mother.

The health system said in a statement it plans to appeal.

Kirsten Drake and her son, K'Jon, are plaintiffs and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is an intervening plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court in 2020. The Drakes' attorney said in a release that the state joined the case because of the "exorbitant cost" it has incurred for medical care for the boy.

"When a fetal monitor indicates 'non-reassuring heart tones' it is a call to action and time is of the essence to prevent the kind of injury this child suffered," attorney Brian McKeen, one of the attorneys representing the Drakes, stated in the release. "It is outrageous that there was a more than two-hour delay for something that needs to be performed urgently.

"This child will need medical and home care for the rest of his life, and while we cannot give him the quality of life he would have had but for this injury, we can only hope to give his additional therapies and services to help him deal with his disabilities and protect from the possibility of an early demise," McKeen said. "This injury should have never happened. It was foreseeable and entirely preventable. We hope this verdict serves as a reminder to the obstetrical community that they should act expediently in the presence of non-reassuring fetal monitor patterns."

A two-hour delay

Henry Ford Health System said in a statement: "At Henry Ford Health, our patients are family, and we've been deeply saddened for the Drake family since the birth of their son more than a decade ago. At the same time, we do not believe the verdict is consistent with the facts of this case and plan to vigorously appeal the jury's verdict. Given the ongoing nature of the case, we are not able to provide any additional comment at this time."

McKeen told the Free Press on Tuesday that he is disappointed the health system plans to appeal. He said it "should have stepped up to the plate and resolved this case to begin with" and should do so now, after a clean trial, to give the boy the care he needs.

The verdict came March 28 after a trial that started March 4, according to online Circuit Court records.

The Detroit mother, then age 20, arrived at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit in June 2010, at term, but not near delivery, per the release from McKeen's office. Sometime after she was admitted, the fetal monitor indicated "non-reassuring fetal heart tones" and a C-section was called for.

But the procedure was delayed more than two hours, it stated, with the boy suffering severe asphyxiation resulting in cerebral palsy and permanent brain damage.

The Drakes' attorneys, in a summary, wrote that K'Jon was not born until two hours and 19 minutes after the C-section was called for.

'Nothing was done with any sense of urgency'

"This was an unnecessary and egregious delay that needlessly endangered K'Jon's health," they wrote in a summary.

"K'Jon suffered through a very prolonged and difficult neonatal period and unfortunately he was left with severe and permanent brain damage. HFH is being sued for their negligent failure to provide appropriate obstetrical careresulting in severe cerebral palsy and severe developmental delay."

The Drakes' attorneys stated in their summary that Kirsten Drake was more than 39 weeks along in her pregnancy, that K'Jon was well-oxygenated and had not suffered brain damage when she arrived at the hospital.

After admission, however, "the fetal monitor began to show decelerations due to cord compression and decreased variability. Decreased variability should raise concern about fetal hypoxia if delivery is delayed that might lead to acidosis."

The attorneys wrote that "nothing was done with any sense of urgency. The defendants' lack of expediency was a breach of the standard of care."

"Currently, K'Jon suffers from severe brain damage/cerebral palsy and has a seizure disorder. He is non-verbal. K'Jon needs to wear leg braces and utilizes a wheelchair. His vision is extremely limited. K'Jon is completely dependent upon his mother and grandmother. In sum, the injuries and damages are catastrophic," the Drakes' attorneys wrote in the facilitation summary.

K'Jon's grandmother has been paid a small amount by the state for the care, but "nowhere near the going rate," they wrote.

Family hopes for house better-suited for needs

"Transporting K'Jon is a challenge. Even the shortest trip entails planning. As K'Jon grows this will become more difficult, as will be bathing. Kirsten worries constantly about the future and whether she will be able to take care of K'Jon as she gets older."

The summary states the family would like to hire professionals to provide K'Jon therapy and home care, but can't afford to do so, as well as build a house with more space that is better equipped to meet his needs. It states K'Jon may live into his 50s, if not beyond.

McKeen said there are no handicap-accessible features in the family's home.

The verdict form identifies more than $517,000 in past economic damages for medical expenses up to the present for K'Jon, of which more than $242,000 was paid by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Past noneconomic damages for pain and suffering and denial of social pleasures and enjoyments the boy has sustained is listed as $1.25 million on the verdict form.

The remainder of the verdict form lists, by year or partial year, K'Jon's estimated economic damages for medical expenses through 2065; future damages for economic loss for wage earning capacity from June 2028, when he would turn 18, through 2077; and future non-economic damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish and denial of social pleasures and enjoyments through 2065.

McKeen said the statute of limitations to sue is two years for most cases, but 10 years for injuries at birth.

This is believed to be one of the larger jury verdicts in Michigan.

In 2018, McKeen represented a family in an Oakland County case where a jury awarded the family more than $130 million in damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against Beaumont Hospital after a child sustained severe brain damage, resulting in cerebral palsy, while receiving care at its Royal Oak facility.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan mom, son awarded $120M in malpractice lawsuit over C-section