A Pomona Superior Court jury recently awarded a Pomona woman $12 million after she was forced to sit in a hospital waiting room for several hours with an air-rifle pellet lodged in her brain. Twenty-two-year-old Jessica Ramirez was shot in the head with an air rifle pellet gun at a family member’s home. Details of the shooting were unavailable at the time of this writing. However, Ramirez walked to the hospital with the pellet in her brain. She was still conscious when she entered the hospital emergency room with an increasingly dangerous brain injury.
While Ramirez waited in the emergency waiting room, her brain continued to bleed, which increased the pressure inside her skull, causing her to nearly lose consciousness over the 5 hours she waited before being flown to Huntington Hospital to undergo brain surgery. The neurosurgeon who operated on Ramirez testified in court on her behalf. He told the courtroom that Ramirez’s outcome would have been less severe if doctors would have operated immediately upon her arrival in the emergency room. He added that due to the extended waiting period before receiving treatment, Ramirez will require 24-hour care for the rest of her life, according to a New York Injury News article.
The incident occurred in September of 2007. The owner of the hospital, AHMC Healthcare, Inc., and hospital officials plan to appeal the $12 million ruling. Ofelia Reynaga, Ramirez’s mother, brought the suit to court on behalf of her daughter. While Ramirez was conscious enough to walk into the emergency room, she was left in a vegetative state, which her lawyer and the verdict confirm was due to negligence on the part of the Greater El Monte Community Hospital.
References:
Associated Press. (February 12, 2010) ‘US jury awards $12 million for brain injury.’ Retrieved on February 21, 2010 from the Hindu Web site:http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article105487.ece
New York Injury News Staff. (February 17, 2010) ‘$12 million verdict awarded to California woman with severe brain injury.’ Retrieved on February 21, 2010 from the New York Injury News Web site: http://www.newyorkinjurynews.com/2010/02/17/12-million-verdict-awarded-t…