Family wins eight-figure payout after hospital left baby disabled

A family was awarded an eight-figure payout for a medical malpractice verdict after a North Carolina doctor permanently injured a baby during delivery.

Naqah Lake, now six, and his mom received $18.2 million after attorneys say a doctor at WakeMed Raleigh Campus Hospital used an improper maneuver during Lake’s birth.

Lake was born at WakeMed Hospital in 2019 and allegedly got stuck in the birth canal.

According to Grant & Eisenhofer (G&E) attorneys, the doctor acted negligently.

The responsible doctor was identified by court records as Tara Brenner, an obstetrics and gynecology physician.

‘What followed was an attempted delivery by a resident who used improper maneuvers, that we alleged used improper maneuvers, and the jury agreed,’ Gerald Jowers, one of Lake’s attorneys, said in a report by Fox 8. 

The maneuver Brenner allegedly performed, known as fetal vertex rotation, involved rotating the baby’s head while the ‘shoulder remained impacted’ causing permanent nerve damage. 

Lake was permanently disabled with Jowers explaining that two of five nerves were ripped from his spinal cord. 

A family was awarded an eight-figure payout from a jury verdict against WakeMed Hospital for negligence over injuries to a boy during birth

Naqah Lake was born in 2019, receiving multiple nerve damage injuries to his brachial plexus after a doctor performed ‘improper maneuvers’ 

The maneuver performed, known as fetal vertex rotation, involved rotating Lake’s head while his shoulder remained stuck in the birth canal, causing permanent nerve damage and rendering his left arm, shoulder, and hand weakened for life.

‘A third was partially ripped and the remaining two were torn.’  

The injury to his brachial plexus rendered his left arm, shoulder and hand weakened for life. 

Lisa Weinstein, another representative of Lake, explained that his left hand and arm are noticeably shorter and smaller than his right. 

Lake’s mom, Laurel Browne, sued the hospital with the help of G&E lawyers that claimed Brenner broke the standard of care and could have avoided the permanent injury.

The 12-person jury reached unanimous verdicts confirming negligence on the part of the hospital and the resident physician, as well as damages, awarding Lake and his mother a total of $18.2 million.

The verdict marks the largest of its kind regarding a brachial plexus injury with $2.2 million for economic damages and $16 million for non-economic.

However, the large sum of money will not be able to solve all of the challenges Lake has faced and will continue to face.

‘Holding a little bottle as a baby, crawling as a baby, doing tummy time as a baby, in school he has a buddy who carries his backpack, and his lunch is from home, but the container — he needs help opening the container and then undoing the food to eat from,” Weinstein said. 

Lake’s mom, Laurel Browne, sued the hospital with the help of Grant & Eisenhofer lawyers that claimed the doctor broke the standard of care and could have avoided the permanent injury

Although the family won a record-breaking sum of $18.2 million Lisa Weinstein explained that Lake’s will continue to struggle with certain everyday activities that involve both arms

She went on to explain how Naqah will struggle to do activities such as driving or going to the gym when he is older.

‘Naqah will never be able to play sports that require both hands, hug his mother with both arms, hold his own child with both arms, or simply clap his hands, because of a ‘never maneuver.’ We are grateful for the jury for holding WakeMed accountable for the lifelong disability it caused.’

The Daily Mail reached out to WakeMed Raleigh Campus Hospital and Tara Brenner for comment.