Young Cerebral Palsy Victim Progresses : Malpractice Suit Settled in Hospital Brain Damage Case

This was the year young Christopher Allen learned how to breathe.

The 3-year-old cerebral palsy victim, who had been confined to hospitals and specialized care homes since birth, went home to his parents, sister and brother last month for the first time.

And this week, an out-of-court settlement was reached in a malpractice lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court regarding the permanent brain damage the boy was born with. The settlement will pay for a lifetime of care and rehabilitation.

“We put Christopher in the hands of the Lord, and he progressed--and he is progressing,” said his mother, Gwendolyn Allen, of Carson.

Family ‘Blessed’

For two years, Allen visited her struggling son in hospitals “three times a day, every day.”

She said they have been blessed: “God has blessed him and blessed us also every day. I have a strong belief in God, and I’ve seen His work. This was a miracle. I know God will restore him, as I have asked, to a full body and mind.”

The lawsuit alleged that two doctors, Craig Mueller and Gary Goldstein, were negligent in caring for Allen when she went into labor on May 16, 1984. Neither the doctors nor Humana Hospital Westminster, also a defendant, acknowledged any liability in settling the case.

The terms of the settlement are secret, but the benefits to Christopher were described by his mother and her attorneys.

The lawsuit alleged that the physicians failed to recognize that Allen’s pregnancy was high risk; that they should have delivered Christopher by Caesarean section but did not; and that they failed to place the newborn on life-support systems until after a point where oxygen deprivation had inflicted permanent brain damage.

Ultrasound examinations performed on Allen during her pregnancy revealed excess amniotic fluid that, the lawsuit said, should have alerted doctors to the potential for serious difficulties.

Malfunction Claimed

There were additional complications when Allen entered the hospital. An internal fetal monitor first showed indications of a lack of oxygen, then malfunctioned, according to the lawsuit.

“Both obstetricians ignored the fact that her labor was not progressing properly, that the baby’s head was not descending as rapidly as it should have,” said Rose Flitcraft, Allen’s lawyer.

“Finally, Dr. Mueller did a traumatic forceps delivery,” Flitcraft said. “Instead of doing a Caesarean, he went up with forceps and pulled the baby down.”

Christopher did not breathe, “and in fact did not have any spontaneous breathing for months,” Flitcraft said.

Today, Christopher cannot walk. He is trying to learn how to stand, Flitcraft said. He doesn’t talk, except for a few vowel sounds.

Hospitalized for the first two years of his life, the child now uses a respirator only at night.

Christopher lives with his mother; her husband, George, an electrical engineer; a brother, Ekwan, 9, and a younger sister, Zanyae, 2, in their Carson home.

‘Like a Normal Little Boy’

“Home is really where he needed to be,” Allen said. “He’s doing so much better. He’s acting like a normal little boy.

“Just for him to wake up and see us--it’s great.”

Allen described herself as a “happy mother and housewife.”

Allen said that Christopher’s progress has been remarkable; experts never thought her son would be able to function without a respirator.

“He seems to understand a great deal,” Flitcraft said. “They wanted him to be able to have training, speech therapy and rehabilitation, which would maximize his potential. Now, he’ll get it.”