Medical malpractice settlement results in record $40.4M payout  

A medical malpractice lawsuit has resulted in a record-breaking settlement. 

In September 2022, plaintiffs received a settlement totaling just over $40.4 Million – what their legal team believes to be the largest single plaintiff personal injury settlement in South Carolina history.  

This is a medical malpractice case in which the plaintiff alleged that the defendant overlooked a vital finding in a newborn’s chest X-ray that led to late cancer diagnosis and permanent spinal cord injury.  

After one day of life, a newborn baby began showing signs of rapid breathing. The neonatologist ordered an X-ray which they read as showing pneumonia. This X-ray was repeated on day two and three of life, all resulting in a reading of pneumonia.  

According to the plaintiff’s council, Chad McGowan, a significant finding from this X-ray was missed. The X-ray showed a deformity in the upper left corner of the child’s ribcage McGowan reported. The ribs themselves appeared to be misshapen and the spacing was off. According to McGowan his was an obvious finding that should have been noted by the doctor for follow up. 

The baby was sent home after a week in the hospital. The baby was experiencing normal heath until he was about 4 months old and began to have difficulty moving his legs and was not developing at a normally rate. During this time the 6-month-old went to the ER with an unrelated respiratory infection, and the doctors discovered a tumor in his upper chest. The tumor, neuroblastoma, was a childhood cancer, and had grown into the spinal canal rending the baby paralyzed from the chest down McGowan reported.  

Neuroblastoma is treatable with chemotherapy – aimed at shrinking the tumor – followed by surgery to remove it. The treatment for the baby was successful. Currently, at the age of 5, the patient is cancer free. 

“The problem was the delay in diagnosis,” McGowan said. “During the delay, the cancer had a chance to pinch off the spinal cord, leaving permanent injury. Having a spinal cord injury of this kind so early in life led to host of other problems, including severe scoliosis, the need for a trach for a couple of years, and hip dysplasia resulting in repeated surgeries.”  

The defense argued that the radiologists were general radiologists, not pediatric radiologists, and thus the X-ray film looked normal to them where it wouldn’t have to a pediatric radiologist. According to McGowan, discovery showed that a pediatric radiologist should have been involved in the care but was not. 

Many details of this case have been withheld due to a confidentiality agreement.  

Shortly before trial, the parties agreed to a settlement totaling $40,350,000. Trial will proceed against the radiologists under a hi-lo agreement.  

Is this a verdict or a settlement? Settlement
Type of case: Medical malpractice
Amount: $40,350,000
Injuries alleged: Paralysis from the chest down
Case name: Confidential
Court:  Confidential
Case No.: Confidential
Judge: Settlement
Date of settlement: September, 2022
Special damages: Life care plan and economic losses of approximately $36.3 million
Most helpful experts: Dr. Anthony Lupetin, radiology; Dr. Charles Maxfield, pediatric radiology; Dr. Paul Pitel, pediatric oncology; Debbie Caskey, life care planning; Adam Gorlitsy, assistive devices; Raymond Saur, economics
Attorney(s) for plaintiff and their firm(s): Chad McGowan, Eve Goodstein, Jordan Calloway all of McGowan, Hood, Felder, and Phillips, LLC of Rock Hill, SC
Attorney(s) for defendant and their firm(s): Withheld
Was the opposing represented by counsel? Yes
Were liability and/or damages contested? Yes
Has the judgment been successfully collected? Yes