Sailor, family file $150M claim against Navy - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Sailor, family file $150M claim against Navy

A Navy family has filed a claim against the Navy for $150 million, alleging that malpractice by Naval Hospital Jacksonville doctors and staff caused their newborn son to suffer severe brain damage that has left him unable to walk, talk or see.

Sean Cronin, a civilian lawyer representing Electronics Technician 3rd Class Joseph Alcorn and his wife, Kendra, said injuries to their son Gavin, the second child born during a twin pregnancy, were caused when he did not receive enough oxygen during delivery in May 2005.

Cronin said hospital records show that Gavin’s limbs were blue and that he was not breathing when he was delivered about an hour after his sister.

Gavin’s sister had unrelated complications during delivery but has since recovered.

Shortly after delivery, Gavin was transferred to a civilian hospital in Jacksonville, where doctors used an MRI to determine that he suffered brain damage during delivery, Cronin said.

Capt. Raquel Bono, commanding officer of Naval Hospital Jacksonville, said Navy doctors identified Kendra Alcorn’s pregnancy as high risk before delivery and took steps, including having extra doctors present during delivery, to prevent complications. She said close attention was paid to the fetal heart rate and to the mother’s uterine contractions.

“We monitor this very closely, and it allows us to respond very quickly if the fetus is in distress,” she said.

All multiple-birth deliveries are considered high risk, Bono said, adding that other factors, such as the mother’s nutritional status, history of smoking, and alcohol or prescription drug use, also can lead to elevated risk levels.

“The prenatal period is very important and delicate time. There are a whole myriad of causes that determine whether a child develops cerebral palsy,” she said, adding that only 5 percent of cerebral palsy cases are linked to delivery and that a much larger number — at least 60 percent — begin well before delivery.

But the specific type of cerebral palsy suffered by Gavin, Cronin said, is linked directly to oxygen deprivation during delivery. He added that cerebral palsy developed before delivery would damage large parts of the brain, instead of localized damage that Gavin suffered.

Bono would not say which, if any, prenatal risk factors other than a multiple delivery were present during Kendra Alcorn’s pregnancy, but she defended the actions of doctors and staff at the hospital, which she said delivers about 120 babies each month and conforms to national standards set by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“In a high-risk industry such as health care, everything can be done according to standards, and unanticipated outcomes can still happen,” she said.

But Cronin said the hospital was attempting to shift blame onto Kendra Alcorn by discussing complications caused by smoking and prescription medicines. While he admitted that Kendra Alcorn smoked, he said there was no evidence linking smoking to the type of brain damage that Gavin suffered.

“There is no evidence that this is a congenital defect,” he said. “All evidence indicates that this was caused by asphyxiation. I am extremely disappointed that the hospital is attempting to blame the victim. This is an attempt to smear the family and not be accountable for their own actions.”

The Navy has six months to respond to the Alcorn’s claim. It can pay the full amount, offer a reduced settlement or pay nothing.

After the six-month period, if the family is not satisfied with the Navy’s response, they can file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

At that point, Justice Department lawyers would take over the lawsuit’s defense.

Naval Hospital Jacksonville has been at the center of several malpractice claims since 2000. As reported by the Navy Times, medical malpractice at the hospital has left at least 12 patients dead and another four disabled or crippled, according to federal court papers.

A recent case involves a $15 million lawsuit filed against the Navy after doctors failed to diagnose bacterial meningitis in a 3-month-old boy in June 2006.

That boy, Justin Michael Shantz, later died.

Bono defended the hospital’s record.

“I have every confidence that quality health care is being provided,” she said, adding that the national standard for malpractice lawsuits in a year is 2.4 per 100 physicians. Naval Hospital Jacksonville has 1.3 per 100 physicians, she said. While acknowledging that 13 percent of the hospital’s patients cannot sue because they are on active duty, she said that even when those numbers were accounted for, the hospital still beats national averages.

Naval hospital doctors also exceed the national rate for being board qualified, she said.

Cronin, a retired Navy commander and former P-3 pilot who says his child was born at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, did not dispute that.

“I have no doubt that they are able to provide quality of care,” he said. “I just think they had some failures of quality of care in this case.”