Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health System will pay $19 million to the family of a child left permanently brain damaged as a result of misdiagnosis as a newborn, the Star Tribune said April 28.
In 2013, Alina Galligan brought her newborn, Johnny, to an Essentia clinic in Ashland, Wis., because he wasn't eating and felt feverish.
A physician, Andrew Snider, MD, suspected overfeeding and sent the family home after arranging for a home visit with a county nurse but he had to be eventually brought to an emergency center and then onto Essentia's hospital in Duluth, the report said.
It wasn't until Johnny was finally transferred to Minneapolis Children's Hospital that he received the correct diagnosis of meningitis. The 10-year-old is now in a wheelchair, is largely deaf and blind and needs care 24/7, the report said.
Essentia Health said it was disappointed by the verdict, standing behind the healthcare it administered at the time.
"We feel compassion for this family and the care team, as we recognize that cases like this are very difficult for all involved," the report said.
Dr. Snider was also named in the suit but not found negligent.
Essentia Health is in the process of finalizing a merger with Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System.