As we often report, medical malpractice happens all too frequently in Kentucky and throughout the country, resulting in devastating effects on the victims and their families. However, sometimes medical malpractice lawsuits are able to hold the guilty parties accountable.

After a Connecticut jury decided that an improper delivery caused an 8-year-old boy to suffer from cerebral palsy, it awarded the boy and his parents $58 million in a medical malpractice suit the family brought against the doctor who delivered him.

Reportedly, $8 million of the $58 million is meant to cover the boy's past and future medical bills, and the remaining $50 million was awarded for pain and suffering.

The family and their attorneys presented evidence at trial that complications arose at the end of the pregnancy but the obstetrician failed to deliver the baby boy early as he should have. Then, when the boy was finally delivered by C-section, mistakes were made and the boy lost oxygen to his brain, causing the cerebral palsy that left the boy unable to speak, eat or walk.

"He got his life taken away from him, and the only form of justice is this," the boy's father told local reporters.

The family is currently losing their home in foreclosure because of their son's medical bills that have been piling up over the past eight years. They are now hoping to stay in the home, where the boy is comfortable.

"The dollar amount means he will be taken care of, that's what this means to us," the boy's mother told reporters.

Attorneys for the doctor and his staff argued that the boy's cerebral palsy was caused by an infection that occurred prior to his birth. They have said that they will appeal the jury's decision.

Source: ABC 7 Eyewitness News, "Family awarded $58M in malpractice suit," Jen Maxfield, 5/26/2011.