A child who was born with serious birth defects after\nher mother continued to take blood pressure medication while she was pregnant\nhas been awarded $6.48 million in damages by a Georgia jury to pay for her\nongoing medical treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The girl, now 8 years old, suffered brain damage,\nkidney damage, cognitive issues, skull abnormalities, intestinal problems and\nother medical issues due to the blood\npressure medicine<\/a> that was prescribed for her mother, Terry Franklin,\naccording to a Nov. 9 story by Law.com<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Terry Franklin, who was\n28 at the time of her daughter’s birth in March of 2011, filed a medical\nmalpractice lawsuit in 2012 with her daughter’s father, Komarta Gorman,\nalleging that her OB\/GYN allowed her to continue to take the blood pressure\nmedication Benicar even after she had told him she was pregnant, the story\nreported. Franklin was taking the medicine due to high blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The medication\u2019s\nprescribing information warns that its use during the second and third\ntrimesters has been associated with fetal and neonatal injuries\nincluding kidney failure, hypotension, skull and limb deformities, and\nadvises that ‘female patients of childbearing age should be told about the\nconsequences of exposure to Benicar during pregnancy,'” according to court\nfilings in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The primary care\nphysician who initially prescribed the medication for Franklin in 2009, Dr.\nLonnie Jenkins, was a co-defendant until just before trial, when the doctor settled\nwith the plaintiffs for an undisclosed amount, the story reported. Jenkins\nallegedly did not tell Franklin about the risks of taking Benicar, even after\nshe saw him in early 2010 and told him she\u2019d been pregnant but miscarried,\naccording to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Franklin became\npregnant again later in 2010 and began seeing OB\/GYN Alvin Sermons, who\nallegedly knew she was taking Benicar. Sermons notes said she should stop\ntaking the blood pressure medication, but according to the plaintiff’s lawsuit\n“he did not inform Terri that she should stop taking Benicar and did not\ninform her of the dangers Benicar posed to [her fetus].\u201d Franklin continued to\ntake Benicar for 33 weeks, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sermons told Franklin\nto stop taking the medication on her first visit to his office due to severe\nrisks to her unborn child, according to the defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plaintiffs sought\n$26 million in damages in the case, which was heard in DeKalb County State\nCourt in Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After hearing\ntestimony in the case, the jury awarded $1 million to the parents for the\nchild’s medical expenses prior to her 18th birthday and an additional $11\nmillion to the child for damages after she turns 18. But after that $12 million\naward was reached, the jury then apportioned 46% of the liability in the case to\nFranklin, which reduced the total award to $6.48 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legal\ncases like this one occur around the nation every day and are examples of\nsimilar kinds of medical malpractice or personal injury cases that MyPhillyLawyer<\/em> attorneys\nregularly work on tirelessly for our own clients. We handle complex medical\nmalpractice cases and catastrophic motor vehicle crashes involving tractor\ntrailers, plus many other cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you need a medical malpractice or personal injury lawyer<\/a>,\nwe here at MyPhillyLawyer<\/em> stand ready to assist you with\nyour legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in any kind of\ncancer surgery or diagnosis, transvaginal mesh implant, surgical or medical\nprocedure, car crash, slip and fall, workplace injury or wrongful death in\nPhiladelphia or anywhere in the United States. We pledge to make sure that you\nand your family get the compassionate, dogged and experienced legal\nrepresentation that you deserve and expect from a professional legal team which\nworks hard to uncover every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage\naward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We represent the families of victims who die\nin such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of\ndamages that they are eligible to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk to a Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney\nat MyPhillyLawyer<\/em><\/a> by\ncalling 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-(866) 352-4572 anytime\nand our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support\nstaff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage\nyour case through the legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n