Jury hits Presbyterian with $40 million verdict in medical negligence case

A jury this week awarded more than $40 million in damages to a couple who argued that personnel at Presbyterian Healthcare Services failed to diagnose a condition that resulted in brain damage to their infant child.

The couple argued in a lawsuit that Presbyterian personnel failed to diagnose the infant’s low blood glucose levels after the child’s birth in April 2019, resulting in permanent developmental effects.

The award included $15 million in punitive damages against Presbyterian. Jurors also awarded nearly $25 million to the child, now 6, and a total of $825,000 to the boy’s parents, Samantha and Patrick Leonard.

Jurors also found that the conduct of four Presbyterian personnel, including two physicians and two registered nurses, showed “reckless or wanton” behavior on the part of the health care system, 2nd Judicial District Court records show.

Jurors handed down the verdict on Monday following a two-week trial before state District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd.

Presbyterian called the judgment “excessive” in a statement issued Tuesday.

“While we respect the judicial process, we have serious concerns about this outcome and the unprecedented size of the damages awarded,” the statement said. “We intend to pursue legal options to address what we consider to be an excessive judgment.”

“Presbyterian is committed to providing safe, high-quality care to our communities,” it said.

The verdict comes about six months after a Bernalillo County jury awarded nearly $17 million in damages to a woman who carried a 13-inch metal instrument in her abdomen for two months following a 2019 surgery at Presbyterian Hospital. That Jan. 14 verdict included $15 million in punitive damages against Presbyterian.

Earlier this year, lawmakers failed to approve a bill that sought to counter the shortage of health care providers in New Mexico by changing the state’s Medical Malpractice Act, including limiting attorney fees in medical malpractice cases. Senate Bill 176 died in committee after drawing strong opposition from trial lawyers and patients injured by medical malpractice.

Supporters of the bill argued that New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws have made the state a magnet for out-of-state attorneys and discouraged doctors from practicing here.

In 2022, New Mexico had the highest medical malpractice insurance loss ratio in the country, according to a recent Think New Mexico report, meaning insurers paid out 183% of the premiums they took in. New Mexico was one of only seven states where insurers lost money, making it much more expensive for them to function in this market.

Lisa Curtis, an Albuquerque attorney who represented the Leonard family, said jurors awarded $15 million in punitive damages as a warning to Presbyterian.

“It’s clear they were just trying to send a message — take better care of our children,” Curtis said Tuesday.

An attorney for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Colleen Koch, did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday seeking comment.

The boy, who was born about three weeks prematurely at Presbyterian Hospital in April 2019, had undetected hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, due to high insulin levels, according to the 2022 lawsuit. The boy was discharged from the hospital two days after birth.

Seven days after discharge, the boy became “fussy and febrile with less active feeding” and was readmitted to Presbyterian. Eight days after the boy’s birth, his brain and heart shut down, Curtis said.

“They started testing his blood sugar after that,” she said. “His blood sugars were super low. They figured it out in a day once he had crashed and they tested him.”

Presbyterian violated its own policies that require blood-sugar testing for all babies born prematurely within 24 hours of birth, Curtis argued.

The boy “suffered undetected hypoglycemia with subsequent seizure activity and respiratory arrest when he was only (8) days old,” the lawsuit said. The boy “is suffering the long-term consequences of developmental delay/sensory disorder, abnormal vision and behavioral effects.”