St. Luke's settles over baby's death Couple sued hospital, claiming doctors were negligent in treatment

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide

By Debbie Garlicki
Of The Morning Call
Thursday, June 29, 2006

A New Jersey couple whose baby died 31/2 days after he was born at St. Luke's Hospital, Fountain Hill, in 2002 has settled a lawsuit against the hospital and doctors who treated the mother and baby.

Lawyers for the parties said a confidentiality agreement and court order prevent them from disclosing the terms of the settlement between H. Gregory Gulick and his wife, Elizabeth, of Red Bank, and the hospital and doctors.

In January, a Lehigh County jury awarded the Gulicks nearly $1.6 million after the order of the case was reversed. That jury decided damages, and a second jury was to be empaneled this month to determine liability — who should pay.

However, the case settled before the second trial. One of the Gulicks' lawyers, Thomas R. Kline; Susan Schantz, senior spokesperson for the hospital; and lawyer Arthur W. Hankin, who represented the hospital and one of the doctors, said they couldn't comment on who participated in the settlement or whether the settlement was greater than, less than or equal to the jury's award.

Defendants in the suit were the hospital; Drs. Waseem Akhter, a neonatologist; Steven Feinstein, a perinatologist; William R. Cherry, an anesthesiologist; Max Ramenofsky, a surgeon; and Karen Sciascia, who delivered the baby.

All denied negligence and said their care of Elizabeth Gulick and her baby,

The first jury was not told that two defendants — Cherry and Ramenofsky — agreed to pay $500,000 each — their primary insurance policy limits — in out-of-court settlements.

The Gulicks had the potential to collect nearly $1.6 million or $2.6 million — the amount of the award plus the $1 million from the doctors who resolved the case — if a second jury found that the defendants who didn't settle were responsible.

In the weeks before the second trial, which was set for June 19, a flurry of documents were filed in court, with the hospital blaming some of the doctors, and the doctors blaming each other.

Defendants accused the Gulicks' lawyers of changing theories of liability to try to get a higher award. Kline said the hospital was trying to limit its own liability by shifting blame to Cherry because he already had settled.

If the second jury had found Cherry 100 percent responsible for the baby's death, the parents, who already collected $500,000 from the doctor's insurance company, could have collected another $700,000, which would have been paid by the doctor's coverage under the Pennsylvania Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund.

Expert reports of medical professionals hired by the Gulicks and defendants differed on who was responsible for the baby's death on Oct. 21, 2002. Numerous documents were filed by the parties to block testimony of some of those experts.

St. Luke's, Feinstein, Akhter and Sciascia filed motions to bring cross-claims against Cherry and Ramenofsky. Cherry filed a cross-claim against Feinstein.

The Gulicks' suit said prenatal testing showed the baby had an abdominal wall defect that was to be corrected in surgery after birth. The baby's heart and lungs failed after he was given anesthesia, according to the complaint.

The parents alleged that the baby should not have been given anesthesia when his lungs were not mature enough to endure it and that health-care providers were negligent for not determining the infant's lung development.

The baby was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Connor was attached to a heart and lung bypass machine, but his condition deteriorated. The parents decided to stop life support.