Family Wins Medical Malpractice Case against Medical Center

The family in West Richland won their medical malpractice suit this week against Kadlec Regional Medical Center. Their case involved a 4-inch-long piece of plastic tubing that was found inside their 19-inch-long premature baby. The couple won $257,000 from a jury who voted unanimously in their favor.

Although the hospital was found to be negligent, one only juror found the neonatologist in charge, Dr. Miriam Zaragoza, to be negligent for her role in leaving the tubing inside the baby for an additional day without informing the parents. A spokesman for the hospital, Jim Hall, said that although the hospital was disappointed with the result of the trial, "we're glad the child is healthy today and is showing no lingering effects from the unfortunate mishap that occurred two years ago."

The parents of the premature baby, Joseph and Heather Cooper, claimed that the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Kadlec had attempted to cover up the incident that occurred in October of 2008.

Planning to pursue a medical malpractice claim?  Contact us first to explore your options with a North Carolina personal injury attorney.