Cerebral palsy case finds Madison doctor not guilty

11/10/08
Anna Speaker

A medical malpractice lawsuit lasting four years came to a close Friday, finding a Madison doctor not guilty for an infant’s development of cerebral palsy 12 years ago.

Tana Richardson, current Dallas resident, filed a lawsuit in 2004 on behalf of her son, Andrew Shepherd. She brought the suit against Dr. Susan Davidson and St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in Madison, claiming that Davidson waited too long to transfer Richardson to the labor and delivery sector of the hospital which led to her son’s development of cerebral palsy in 1996.

One of plaintiff’s attorneys, Terrence Cirocco, said that while the ruling was unfortunate, it was not uncommon as the plaintiff in a malpractice case loses nine times out of ten. He added that the conclusion of the case on the weekend may have pressured the jury’s decision.

“They went out I think about 5:30 p.m. and it’s kind of unusual for the judge to keep them…on a Friday night so that didn’t help us any,” Cirocco said. “Then he told the jury if they didn’t decide they would have to come back Saturday which doesn’t help us.”

The jury found Davidson and St. Mary’s not guilty of medical malpractice after the defendants argued that any number of the mother’s health issues could have caused the cerebral palsy. Davidson said the mother suffered from a history of diabetes, increased blood pressure and preeclampsia, a condition in which high levels of protein in the urine cause swelling and even sudden death in unborn babies. Richardson was also older and heavier than the average pregnancy patient.

The defendants added that Richardson’s previous health complications during pregnancy may also explain Shepherd’s brain damage. Richardson had heart failure after delivering her other son, Joel, 15, whom developed hemiplegic cerebral palsy from a stroke shortly after birth.

Richardson claimed it was her doctor’s insufficient care that led to Andrew’s condition.

“It’s nothing personal. I liked her as a doctor. It’s just that that day was unfortunate. I mean, that meant life and death for us,” Richardson said.

During the 34th week of her pregnancy, Richardson checked herself into the hospital for her skyrocketing blood pressure. When tests showed that the unborn baby’s heart rate was dropping, Davidson, a maternal fetal medicine doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, immediately ordered an emergency Cesarean section.

According to Richardson, she then spent 30 minutes in the hospital hallway waiting to be transferred. She said she would have been able to take control the situation if she wasn’t suffering from other various health problems and disorientation from being at the hospital.

“Had I been more assertive at that time, I would have said I want her down here now,” Richardson said.

Dr. William Zinser, Richardson’s pediatric neurologist in Dallas, told Richardson that Shepherd developed cerebral palsy during the thirty-minute time period she was waiting to be taken to the delivery room because he lacked a flow of oxygen to his brain.

One of Shepherd’s attorneys, Terrence Cirocco, said that while the ruling was unfortunate, it was not uncommon. He said that the plaintiff in a malpractice case loses nine times out of ten. He added that the timing of the case may have pressured the jury’s decision.

“They went out I think about 5:30 p.m. and it’s kind of unusual for the judge to keep them, as you can imagine, on a Friday night so that didn’t help us any,” Cirocco said. “Then he told the jury if they didn’t decide they would have to come back Saturday which doesn’t help us.”

The family waited to file the suit until 2004 when the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided that there is no statute of limitations on a suit filed against a doctor by a developmentally disabled child.