Seattle family awarded $10 million in wrongful life lawsuit D.C. Birth Personal Injury Lawyer
Last fall, Yesenia Pacheco and her husband, Luis, were awarded $10 million in a wrongful life settlement.
Pacheco, a refugee from El Salvador, had been receiving quarterly injections of Depo-Provera at the Neighborcare Health Clinic in Seattle, Washington. Depo-Provera is a contraceptive; Mrs. Pacheco had two other children, and did not want more.
On September 30, 2011, Pacheco entered the clinic to receive her shot. The nurse on duty had spent much of the day administering walk-in flu shots. The nurse, rather than administering the Depo-Provera dose, injected the flu vaccine. Pacheco left, thinking she had been given the proper shot.
Two months later, Pacheco called the clinic to schedule her next shot of Depo-Provera. The clinic informed her that she was not given her dose at her previous visit, but rather was given the flu shot, and that she needed to take a pregnancy test, immediately. Pacheco soon found out that she was pregnant.
Pacheco had the child, who suffers from bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (PMG). PMG is a birth defect that has resulted in cognitive delays like slowed speech and language skills, seizures, lack of muscle coordination, and more. PMG exists in different forms and on a scale. The iteration of PMG that Pacheco’s child suffers from is among the worst.
Yesenia and Luis sued Neighborcare Health Clinic, a federally funded clinic targeted towards low income families. The judge awarded $10 million – $7.5 million for medical, educational, and other expenses, and $2.5 million in damages for her parents for “mental anguish and emotional stress,” the court wrote.
At trial, the court found that Pacheco did not want to become pregnant, and had she been given the proper shot, would not have done so.
The standard of care required the medical provider to confirm what the appointment was for, to inform the patient of what to be done at the appointment and any side effects, and to obtain informed consent. The nurse failed to satisfy the standard of care.
If you’ve been injured due to negligence or wrongful conduct, it may be in your best interest to hire an attorney. The attorneys at Cohen & Cohen have spent several decades settling and litigating personal injury cases; we have settled over 10,000 cases in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia since the early 1990s. Visit our press page to learn more, and contact us immediately at (202) 955-4529 for a free case evaluation.
