MEDICAL CARE Jury considers record claim in malpractice case

The case stems back to when the teenager was born.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A quadriplegic teenager should receive a $35 million verdict because his condition was caused by doctors who failed to give him proper care at birth, a lawyer says.
Walter Hollins, 17, of Cleveland, suffers from cerebral palsy and has the mental capacity of a 1-year-old. His mother, Regina Harris, must spoon-feed him meals, bathe him and carry him up and down stairs.
His lawyers say the $35 million in damages would cover a lifetime of medical care, lost earnings and pain and suffering.
Hollins clapped and smiled in a Cuyahoga County courtroom Friday, oblivious to lawyer Geoffrey Fieger's words as he delivered his closing argument in a three-week medical malpractice trial.
If Fieger wins half of the money he seeks, it would be the largest jury award in Cuyahoga County history. The present high-damage mark is $17 million.
The panel of five women and three men were to begin deliberations today.
"If any of the defendants had done what they were supposed to do, for God's sake, Walter could have been born without the damage he received," said Fieger, a Southfield, Mich., lawyer known for defending Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the assisted-suicide doctor.
In 1997, Hollins' guardian sued Dr. Ronald Jordan of Cleveland, accusing him of negligence during Hollins' delivery Jan. 29, 1987. He also sued the former Hough-Norwood Clinic, where Jordan worked, and the now-defunct Mount Sinai Medical Center, where Harris gave birth when she was 18.
Procedure delayed
Expert witnesses testified that Hollins' condition was caused by brain damage received in the hours before birth. Fieger said Dr. Jordan and the hospital's medical staff were responsible for delaying an emergency Caesarean section for two hours, during which time Hollins was slowly being suffocated.
Addressing Hollins, seated in a wheelchair several steps away, Fieger smiled and spoke lovingly.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help you then," Fieger said. "But I'll be your voice now. I'll help you get justice."
Lawyers for Dr. Jordan and Mount Sinai argued that their clients did nothing wrong, that Hollins' brain injuries were caused by acts of God, not man.
"Even if this child was delivered earlier, the outcome would not have been different," said Joseph Farchione, Jordan's lawyer.
All available medical test charts show that asphyxia before birth did not cause Hollins' brain damage, said Mount Sinai's attorney, Marc Groedel.
Groedel asked the panel to award Hollins nothing. But if jurors decide the defendants are guilty of negligence, he said he hoped they would limit the award to between $6 million and $8 million for economic and noneconomic losses.