County Told to Pay Girl, 5, $6 Million

Los Angeles County must pay more than $6 million to a 5-year-old girl who is a paraplegic because a county medical clinic failed to diagnose complications involving her mother’s pregnancy, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury decided Tuesday.

The Edward Roybal Comprehensive Health Center also failed to provide a physician to examine the mother during the seven months that she was a patient there, the jury determined in a unanimous verdict after five days of deliberations. She was seen only by a nurse practitioner.

The girl, Jocelyn Panduro of East Los Angeles, is confined to a wheelchair for life as a result of complications during her birth that could have been avoided, her attorney said.

The attorney for the county could not be reached for comment.

“This is a real tragedy, but it is a tragedy that should never have happened,” said the Panduros’ Westwood attorney, Phil Michels.

Jocelyn was the first child of Martin Panduro, an assistant manager at a textile factory, and his wife Rosa. Rosa began prenatal care at the clinic at 10 weeks.

When Rosa was 32 weeks pregnant, the nurse practitioner determined that the baby was in the breech position--which meant that she would emerge from the womb feet first. This makes for a difficult, complicated delivery, but the nurse practitioner never consulted a physician at the clinic.

About a month later, the nurse believed that “the baby had turned” and that there would be a normal delivery, Michels said. But the clinic did not order an ultrasound test, and no physician examined the mother to confirm this.

The baby, however, had not turned, Michels said, and the woman was not referred to a “high-risk” hospital.

The jury Tuesday determined that neither Santa Marta Hospital, where the baby was born, nor the anesthesiologist were liable for the infant’s injuries.

Jurors found that Dr. Young Hahn, the obstetrician who delivered the baby, was liable for 10% of the $7.1-million award.