The Law Office of Robert F. Danzi’s latest jury verdict was reached after a recent three-week trial, but its case originated nearly eight years ago, when the plaintiff was only two years old. The Long Island, New York-based firm’s partners Robert F. Danzi and John R. Danzi represented the family of the plaintiff in Aisha Sanchez, et al., v. Jose Bendayan, M.D., et al. They argued that the OB-GYN’s failure to counsel the mother on the use of progesterone during her pregnancy with Aisha, her third child, could have prevented pre-term delivery. Aisha was delivered prematurely at 29.1 weeks, and as a result of her prematurity, she suffered from severe cerebral palsy, blindness, inability to walk, and inability to eat without feeding tubes, among other conditions.
Prior to the April 19, 2018 verdict, the firm settled against the hospital and proceeded to trial only against the obstetrician, said partner Christine C. Coscia, who represented the plaintiffs at deposition and continued to work on their case. She noted that this complex identification process was perhaps the firm’s biggest challenge. “We had to isolate the conduct of the obstetrician from the maternal fetal medicine specialists who treated Aisha’s mother and were part of the hospital,” she told Leaders In The Law. “The jury understood that the mother and baby received substandard care, and as such, provided a generous award to compensate the child.”
Coscia said that Aisha Sanchez, now 10, will have sufficient support to fund her medical expenses, adding that the victory is a testament to the firm’s resilience and its pursuit of justice.
“The family was validated by the fact that the jury found 100% against the obstetrician,” she said. “The child and family will have many options available to them above and beyond the Medical Indemnity Fund that they would not have had otherwise.”
The total verdict awarded (with inflation rates), was $78,652,480.72.
Read more about the Law Office of Robert F. Danzi in the 2017 edition of New York’s Leading Personal Injury Lawyers and on the firm’s website.