$4.5 Million Is Awarded in Suit Over Caesarean

A 5-year-old boy and his mother were awarded $4.5 million Friday by a jury who found two doctors and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center liable for injuries caused by a Caesarean section gone awry.

Peter Shure suffered brain damage after his obstetrician, Christine Collins, sliced into his head during delivery, said James E. Fox, the attorney who represented the Los Angeles woman and her child.

The child looks normal but is mildly retarded and unable to control his aggressive behavior because the cut, which broke through his skull and exposed his brain during birth, “severed the connection between his emotions and his intelligence,” Fox said.

Collins, who was a second-year resident at the time, is currently an obstetrician at Cedars-Sinai, and she was supervised by Joseph Milstein, a private obstetrician.

Milstein settled for $1 million before trial, Fox said.

The jury awarded Peter $1.5 million for his future care, $800,000 for loss of future earnings and $1.5 million for his pain and suffering. They awarded his mother, Stacy, $750,000 for the emotional distress.

Grace Cheng, spokeswoman for Cedars-Sinai, said: “We respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict and are considering our options for appeal.”