St. Louis’ Blake and Sarah Anyan’s story begins as a fairy tale. The high-school sweethearts were expecting their first baby.
The couple chose Mercy Hospital — dubbed ‘The Baby Palace on Ballas’ — for prenatal care, labor and delivery. They chose the hospital not only because it is known for its obstetrics care, but because Sarah was employed there as a cardiac nurse and Blake worked there as a respiratory therapist.
Sarah’s pregnancy was a typical one, with her active baby kicking her often on her nursing shifts. When she went into labor, she headed to the hospital to welcome her baby boy Remi. That’s where everything went wrong.
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What happened next would change the couple’s lives forever and lead to a record-setting $48.1 million verdict against the hospital for its failures.
Baby suffered severe harm in labor, delivery
Sarah was given an epidural at 10:42 p.m. At 3:50 a.m., she began pushing. Pushing for more than three hours is dangerous. She pushed for 12 hours.
The couple, who trusted their health team, weren’t offered a C-section or told of the risks of prolonged pushing.
“Speaking as a nurse, I was really, really disappointed that they didn’t share that with me," Sarah told News Alert 4 in St. Louis.
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Another thing the health team didn’t reveal? That their baby boy Remi was in distress during the prolonged labor.
To their shock, when Remi was delivered, he was floppy, didn’t cry, had poor tone and began having seizures.
“We were pretty much blindsided,” Sarah said.
Sadly, their son suffered severe and permanent harm. Now 5 years old, Remi has full cognition but can’t walk or communicate. He has cerebral palsy.
“It’s just a major travesty,” Blake said. “It hurts us as parents, but it also hurts us as care providers. That’s so far away from what we’ve been taught to do, and what I teach my students to do. It’s just heartbreaking.”
The Anyans filed a malpractice lawsuit against Mercy Hospital, its nurses and their obstetrician Dr. Daniel McNeive for medical negligence.
Medical malpractice laws hold providers accountable if the care they provide falls below a professional standard. Birth injuries are a top reason for malpractice claims.
Expert witnesses said expecting a mother in labor to push for 12 hours was inexcusable, adding that the hospital failed to respond properly after Remi was born. One possible intervention — therapeutic hypothermia — could have reduced his injuries by up to 30%.
The couple won their malpractice suit. The jury awarded them $48.1 million in the verdict, of which $20 million was for punitive damages.
"So grateful that they took what happened seriously and didn’t give up faith in Remi, and that they would try and help him move forward," Blake said.
Mercy is appealing the ruling. In a statement, they wrote:
"We stand by the care provided by our team … No evidence was ever introduced suggesting dangerous patterns or practices of behavior by Mercy or Dr. McNeive, nor did the jury make this finding. The case remains pending with the court, and Mercy will continue to seek appropriate resolution for the benefit of the Anyan family.”
What can malpractice victims do?
The Anyans aren’t the only ones harmed by a medical error. A Johns Hopkins study found that medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the U.S.
Top reasons for malpractice suits include:
- failure to diagnose/delayed diagnosis
- radiology errors, such as misreading X-rays
- failure to obtain informed consent
- surgical errors, such as operating on the wrong body part or leaving instruments inside patients
- anesthesia errors
- medication errors
Victims of malpractice must demonstrate they were damaged by medical negligence and deserve compensation for losses. If successful, they are owed payment for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and emotional distress.
However, many states cap non-economic damages (for pain and distress) at $500,000 or less.
If you or someone you love has experienced medical negligence, it’s important to take legal action quickly. There are time limits for pursuing a claim — usually within one to four years of discovering your injuries — so don’t wait.
If legal costs concern you, you can work with a personal injury lawyer on a contingency-fee basis. Such lawyers offer free case evaluations and don’t charge legal fees upfront. They subtract legal fees from any compensation they recover on your behalf.
To support your case, gather and maintain all the documentation you can — medical records, names of your care team, and records of any followup care you have received as a result of your injuries.
The Anyans took action not only to advocate for themselves, but to inspire others — as Sarah tells her son Remi.
“You’ve got two choices in life. You can be angry and bitter and hang on to that anger your whole life. Or you can choose to inspire people," Sarah said. "And I tell him that all the time — he’s going to inspire people."
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
