The Journal News (White Plains, NY)

MOUNT KISCO — Northern Westchester Hospital is appealing a $56 million medical malpractice verdict that found the hospital and a doctor liable for a birthing injury that left a boy permanently disabled.

A state Supreme Court jury in White Plains found the hospital's staff and Mount Kisco obstetrician Dr. Carla Eng-Kohn did not act quickly enough to relieve shoulder dystocia that occurred as plaintiff Mary Swanson gave birth to her son, Michael, in October of 2003. The shoulder, stuck inside the mother's body, caused the baby to be without oxygen for several minutes.

The verdict is among the largest medical malpractice awards in Westchester County history.

The jury awarded $22 million in past and future pain and suffering and about $33.8 million for the boy's future medical and rehabilitation expenses, custodial care and loss of future income.

The boy, now 7, suffered a brain stem injury. He experiences several physical and mental disabilities, among them speech delays and a breathing condition that requires oxygen to be available at all times. He was hospitalized about 12 times in the last year.

Attorneys for the hospital filed court papers last week appealing the decision to a higher court. The jury found the hospital 25 percent liable and the obstetrician 75 percent liable, according to court papers.

At $56 million, the award is on the higher end of the spectrum nationally, and was the second largest in Westchester County, according to data collected by VerdictSearch, a national jury verdict reporting service.

"It would be in contention for top med mal in the year for any given year," said Glenn Koch, editor-in-chief of the publication.

New York tends to have higher medical malpractice payouts than other parts of the country, and some of the awards in Westchester have taken the lead in recent years.

VerdictSearch maintains a database that goes back to 1980 and has logged more than 150,000 verdicts nationwide, Koch said.

A May 2009 verdict that involved a birthing injury case at St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers was the largest award in the county at $77 million.

It was also ranked first on the list of largest medical malpractice awards in the U.S. last year.

The Swanson award ranked No. 30 on that same list, according to VerdictSearch.