Southwest Indiana Jury Sides With Couple in Malpractice Suit

A southwestern Indiana jury has sided with an Evansville couple who accused a local hospital and a doctor of causing their 9-year-old daughter’s severe brain injury and cerebral palsy.

The Vanderburgh Circuit Court jury ordered St. Mary’s Medical Center and Dr. Mureena Turnquest-Wells to pay a $15 million medical malpractice award to Jamie and Crystal Bobbitt.

But attorney Terry Noffsinger tells the Evansville Courier & Press state law caps medical malpractice awards at $1.25 million and that would leave his clients with less than 10 percent of the award but a lifetime of medical costs for their daughter.

The couple alleged their doctor failed to recognize fetal distress and swiftly deliver their baby in September 2003. She has cerebral palsy, is wheelchair bound and needs a feeding tube.