A Louisiana jury has found that a now-deceased pediatrician was negligent in prescribing an antibiotic that caused a young girl to lose 65 percent of her skin and undergo a grafting operation.
According to East Baton Rouge Parish Circuit Court documents, a jury returned a $2.1 million verdict late friday against the state of Dr. Louis O. Jeansonne III and an insurance company. Attorney Donald Price, who represents the injured girl, 19 year-old Breanna Ellis, and her mother, Debra McKee, said he asked the jury for $1.1 million. He was shocked by the additional award, saying “it’s not something that had ever happened to me before… We were gratified.”
Attorneys for Jeansonne and Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Co., a physician-run medical malpractice firm, had argued that the doctor was not negligent.
The lawsuit was filed in 2006 and alleged that when Ellis met with Jeansonne in 2003 for treatment of a sinus infection, when Ellis was 13, the pediatrician said he would prescribe Ominicef, a type of penicillin used for the treatment of sinus infections in pediatric patients. The suit claimed that Jeansonne actually prescribed Septra DS, a sulfa antibiotic not approved for the treatment of sinus infections in pediatric patients.
The jury awarded $2 million to Ellis for her pain and suffering; $100,000 to McKee for loss of consortium; and $16,000 in medical expenses.
It is important to speak with an attorney if you believe you have been the victim of medical negligence or Philadelphia medical malpractice.
