$960,000 Birth Injury Verdict for Brain Damaged Infant

The Lautenschlager family of Grand Island, Nebraska received a verdict in February 2012 which compensated them $960,534 after a two-week jury trial. The parents of Logan Lautenschlager, who is now 4-years-old, argued that their son suffered brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation during his birth at St. Francis Medical Center in August of 2007.

The family's physician and attorney Patrick Cullan stated that the overdose of induction drugs given to the mother caused her uterus to contract harder and faster during the 25-hour long labor, during which her placenta and uterine wall tore. This, in turn, caused the baby to lose oxygen and blood flow. Cullan says the 4-year-old boy is just now learning to walk, has difficulty swallowing, and also requires intensive speech therapy as a result of the brain damage.

The Lautenschlager family asked for medical expenses, therapy costs, and special education expenses, among other services; $950,534 was ultimately given to Logan, and $10,000 to his mother.