LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Los Angeles County agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a formerly homeless woman on behalf of her son who suffered brain damage at birth.
In her lawsuit, Dyrene Loftis, 25, alleged that negligence by medical staff at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center resulted in the rupture of her uterus, which caused a lack of oxygen to the child during his delivery, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Loftis was rushed to the hospital in April 2012, when she was 39 weeks pregnant, with severe abdominal pains, said her attorney, Bruce Fagel. After being in the hospital's labor and delivery until for 14 hours, Loftis was discharged and sent to a homeless shelter without being seen by an obstetrician.
Loftis returned to the hospital about 12 hours later with a ruptured uterus and delivered her baby, a boy named Micah, via an emergency Caesarean section, Fagel said.
The settlement money will be used to pay for any future medical expenses Micah will need, and to buy a house where she and her family can live, Fagel said.
"That's the most important thing to me right now, just getting him home," Loftis said in a telephone interview. The settlement, she said, "will help me take care of my baby, but I'm really not happy with the whole situation."
