Reading Hospital has agreed to pay $32.5 million to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a boy who suffered brain injuries during his 2018 birth, according to the law firm representing the family.
Philadelphia-based Ross Feller Casey LLP filed a lawsuit against the hospital in 2022 on behalf of the boy's mother, Miranda Garcia of Reading.
The now 5-year-old boy, who was not named in court documents, suffers from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen.
"No amount of money can adequately compensate this little boy for what happened to him, but the civil justice system does provide a means by which his life, and his parents' lives, can be made a little better," Matt Casey, a founding partner of Ross Feller Casey, said in a statement announcing the settlement.
A trial in the case began Monday morning in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas but quickly ended after opening arguments were made when the two sides announced they had reached a settlement.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Reading Hospital officials acknowledged that a settlement was reached, stressing that the agreement does not place blame on the hospital or any of its employees.
"We value and respect the privacy of the family involved in this lawsuit," the statement reads. "To avoid a protracted public trial and the potential distress it could cause all parties, a resolution was reached without any admission of fault or liability by any health care providers at Reading Hospital."
The statement concludes by saying that, consistent with Reading Hospital's longstanding policy, hospital officials do not comment on the specifics of litigation.