Family Awarded $8 Million for Brain Damage to Baby

A Compton jury has awarded more than $8 million to the family of a boy who suffered brain damage during birth at a Monterey Park hospital.

After a three-week trial, jurors this week found Dr. Nicolai Foong, a Monterey Park obstetrician, liable for the injuries suffered by Kevin Hsieh during his Oct. 2, 1997, delivery at Garfield Medical Center, the family’s attorney said.

“If Dr. Foong had gotten out of bed and gone to the hospital that night, our expert testified, this baby would have escaped any neurological damage,” said the attorney, Daniel Powell.

Attorneys for the doctor were unavailable for comment on the verdict in the case, which was filed three years ago by Winson and Maggie Hsieh, the baby’s parents. Throughout the trial, however, Foong and his attorneys insisted he acted appropriately.

The judge could reduce the award if he decides it is excessive. Foong also can appeal.

After four days of deliberation, the jury awarded the Hsiehs $6.5 million for their son’s future medical care, $1.3 million for his loss of future earnings, $100,000 for pain and suffering and $1.4 million for future pain and suffering--a total of $9.3 million. But under California law, the future pain and suffering award is limited to $250,000, reducing the total award to about $8.1 million, Powell said.

“This child will never live independently. He’ll have an IQ of 50 and the mental capacity of a 1- to 2-year-old,” the attorney said.

Maggie Hsieh went into labor on Sept. 30, 1997, and was admitted to Garfield Medical Center, but Foong, according to Powell, ordered medication be used to stop the contractions.

Powell said nurses called Foong at home at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Oct. 2 to tell him Hsieh was ready to deliver. The child’s head eventually appeared about 7:30 a.m. and a nurse called Foong, who arrived about 8 a.m.

After birth the infant had a temperature of 101.4 degrees. He was airlifted to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles for emergency treatment.

Powell said the child was in an infectious environment for more than eight hours and that chorioamnionitis caused by bacteria set in. The defense maintained it was a viral infection and that Foong’s action did not influence the child’s health.