A couple won more than $3 million from hospital after their newborn baby tragically died two days following a rough c-section delivery.
Tiffany and Cody Chiasson were awarded $3.7 million after their son suffered a skull fracture and brain bleed at birth and passed away at only two days old.
The devastated couple then sued Terrebonne General Medical Center and Dr. Sheen Duplantis.
Tiffany, a registered nurse who worked at Terrebonne General, went into labor on December 7, 2015, but had shown signs of pre-term labor a month earlier.
The lawsuit stated that Duplantis, who just received board certification, started the procedure without an assistant.
It was alleged that the baby’s heart tones were not monitored after spinal anesthesia. When Duplantis struggled to deliver the baby, Dr. Richard Clement was called and he delivered the child.
But a pediatric neurosurgeon said that the baby had suffered an ‘unrecoverable event’ at birth.
Brian scans revealed extensive bleeding caused by trauma to the head during delivery.
Tiffany requested medical records from the obstetrician’s clinic and Terrebonne General as she thought that they might be altered and she was right. Discrepancies between the reports included details about the baby’s position during the procedure, anesthesia, and the mother’s cervical dilation.
Three weeks after the incident, Duplantis also changed details in her operative note.
Even though the couple won almost $4 million, they will only receive a portion of it.
Attorney Kara Hadican Samuels, the couple’s representative, said: “Unfortunately, Louisiana law prevents the Chiassons from receiving the full damages awarded by the jury, as our cap on medical malpractice damages was enacted in 1975 and has never once been adjusted for inflation.”
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