The jury returned a $2.5 million verdict in favor of the mother of a 23-month-old boy who died shortly after being treated and released by the emergency room at Medical Center East (now St. Vincent’s East) in Birmingham. When the toddler accidentally ingested a methadone tablet, Poison Control was called and he was immediately taken to the hospital’s emergency room. There, the attending physician examined the child, observed him and discharged him within 3.5 hours of admission and four hours of ingestion.
David Marsh and Rip Andrews proved that the effects of methadone are delayed and that the child should have been admitted and observed for a period of at least 8 to 12 hours. In fact, within three hours of discharge, the toddler stopped breathing and aspirated. Paramedics rushed him back to the hospital, but he died later that day of methadone ingestion.
