Record jury award given in Trumbull malpractice case

WARREN

A Trumbull County jury has awarded a record $13.9 million payout to a 10-year-old Leavittsburg girl and her family for the medical malpractice of Cortland obstetrician Dr. Tara Shipman, who delivered her.

The eight-person jury issued the unanimous verdict Thursday morning in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court after a three-week trial and three days of deliberations.

Atty. Martin F. White of Warren filed the lawsuit that led to the trial. In addition to Dr. Shipman, the suit named Dr. Edmundo B. Salero of Warren, now deceased, who attempted to resuscitate Haley Cobb just after her birth on Jan. 4, 2000, and Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where the birth took place.

The Cobb family settled earlier with Dr. Salero’s estate and Forum Health TMH. The terms of that settlement are confidential, White said.

“The most important thing is Haley will be able to have a quality of life that she otherwise would not have been able to have,” White said of the jury award.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com