Multimillion-dollar award

A five-month-old baby was undergoing liver surgery at a hospital for children in Pittsburgh when a “grounding pad” was placed on the baby’s thigh to be used in conjunction with an electric scalpel. However, the nurses placed the grounding pad incorrectly and did not observe it properly during the surgery. As a result, the baby suffered a third-degree burn on her thigh and three days later had her leg amputated at the hip. A medical malpractice claim was filed against the hospital and a products liability claim was filed against the company that manufactured the grounding pad because they knew that the pad had caused burns in the past and did not adequately warn people how to safely use it. We obtained a multimillion-dollar award for this child.