Suit Settled by Doctors, Hospital : Child’s Brain Was Harmed in Delay of Caesarean Section

A woman whose child suffered brain damage when doctors waited 10 hours to perform a Caesarean section has accepted a settlement worth $2.9 million from two doctors and Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, according to attorneys involved in her lawsuit.

Erica Jacobson of Fountain Valley claimed that her first pregnancy had been uneventful until one Sunday evening in 1983 when she felt severe pains and checked into the hospital at 11 p.m.

Doctors waited until 9 the next morning--at one point over the protests of hospital nurses--before delivering the baby by Caesarean section, Jacobson claimed.

The child, Brandon, was born with severe brain damage and a motor dysfunction of the legs. At 3 1/2, Brandon can say only 15 words and has the mental development of an 18-month-old.

Lack of Oxygen Cited

“During that 10-hour period, the baby suffered from a lack of oxygen and nourishment and suffered brain damage,” said Frank Nicholas, lawyer for Jacobson.

The settlement agreement, which was partially sealed, provides for a $375,000 lump payment, most of which will pay legal fees, plus $3,100 a month. When Brandon reaches age 18, he will receive an additional $50,000 a year to cover lost earnings.

Dr. Daryoosh Samini, the doctor who was on call at the hospital that evening, contributed about 80% of the total, according to his lawyer, Louis H. Dehaas. Samini acknowledged no liability in the case, Dehaas said.

Also contributing were the hospital and Dr. Anthony LeDonne Jr., Jacobson’s obstetrician who consulted by telephone with Samini.

“Basically, we settled the case because we had conflicts among the defendants,” Dehaas said. “Samini was saying he was not on call for LeDonne, that LeDonne should have come in and cared for his patient. LeDonne said Samini should have continued with the care.”

Payment Guarantee

Nicholas said two nurses would have testified that they thought monitoring devices showed clear evidence of fetal distress, indicating the need for a Caesarean section, hours before the surgery was performed.

Dehaas said the nurses may have thought the operation was needed, “but they never said it to anybody.”

Payments under the settlement are guaranteed for 10 years. After that, they will continue as long as Brandon is alive, which is expected to be more than 60 years, according to Nicholas. The monthly payments will be adjusted for inflation.

Insurance firms will pay the settlement. The hospital’s insurers are Truck Insurance Exchange and Lloyd’s of London. The Cooperative of American Physicians Inc. provided Samini’s contribution. LeDonne’s insurer is the Southern California Physicians’ Insurance Exchange Co.

Brandon can move only with the aid of a walker, Nicholas said, and will need care all his life.

Erica Jacobson was not available for comment.