$2.86-Million Settlement for Blinding : Garden Grove Doctor, Hospital Admit No Wrongdoing in ’66 Case

A man left blind 22 years ago, when too much oxygen was allegedly piped into his incubator after his premature birth, accepted a $2.86-million settlement Tuesday from a Garden Grove doctor and a Santa Ana hospital he accused of being responsible for his loss of sight.

Under the terms of the agreement reached before Orange County Superior Court Judge Donald E. Smallwood in Santa Ana, Adam Shaible--formerly of Santa Ana and now of Pompano Beach, Fla.--will receive $225,000 in cash immediately, $3,000 a month for life, and $840,000 in periodic payments over the next 30 years, according to lawyers in the case.

The money will be paid by Joseph Nizinski, the Garden Grove physician who delivered Shaible in June, 1966, as well as by Riverview Hospital, now known as Santa Ana Hospital Medical Center, where Shaible alleged that he received excessive oxygen in the incubator in which he lived for 10 days following his birth.

No Wrongdoing Admitted

Despite the settlement, Nizinski’s attorney, Joseph D. McNeil, said neither his client nor Riverview Hospital, which was represented by another attorney, has admitted to wrongdoing in the case. Hospital spokesmen could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

McNeil would not say specifically why his client had agreed to the settlement instead of going to trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

“There were numerous reasons,” McNeil said. “It seemed like an advantageous settlement at the right time.”

Shaible, a part-time college student and telephone solicitor, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night because he was flying back to Florida. But his attorney, Neil Bahan of Santa Ana, described Shaible, a former Cal Poly Pomona student, as being “absolutely thrilled.”

Both McNeil and Bahan said the case was unique because to bring it to trial after so many years Bahan had to show that Nizinski had covered up his alleged negligence.

Cause Not Suspected

Another unusual aspect of the case, Bahan said, was that it was not suspected that Shaible’s blindness had been caused by negligence until six years ago. While representing Shaible’s father, Alan Shaible of San Dimas, in an auto-accident case in 1982, Bahan learned of the circumstances surrounding the son’s birth and offered the opinion that his blindness could have been caused by receiving excessive amounts of oxygen.

State law requires that medical malpractice cases such as this be brought within eight years of the child’s birth, Bahan said, but an exception is allowed if it can be shown that the negligence was fraudulently concealed.

Fifteen months ago during a trial, Orange County Superior Court Judge Jack K. Mandel dismissed the charges of negligence against the hospital.

But the jury concluded that Nizinski had willfully misled the parents and covered up the cause of their son’s blindness, which would allow them to take the case to trial, Bahan said.

Although Riverview Hospital had been dismissed from the suit, Nizinski attorney McNeil said the hospital agreed to contribute to paying Tuesday’s settlement because of a lawsuit the doctor had filed against the hospital seeking indemnification if Shaible had won his suit.