DAYTON — Last week’s $31 million verdict against Miami Valley Hospital could be the largest jury award for a medical malpractice case in Ohio history, though a settlement agreement makes it unlikely the hospital will have to pay that much.
As the jury was deliberating Thursday afternoon, July 2, after a four-week trial before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Timothy O’Connell, attorneys for the hospital and the family of Leondo Stanziano worked out a settlement agreement, plaintiffs’ attorneys Richard Lawrence and Patrick J. Beirne confirmed Monday, July 6.
“All disputes between the parties have been resolved,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence and Beirne said the verdict is the largest medical malpractice award they could find in Ohio. The last big medical malpractice case in Montgomery County resulted in an $8 million award last year, they said.
Lawrence and Beirne said the agreement is confidential and they could not discuss the details. They expect the case to be finished in the next 30 to 40 days, they said.
The agreement will end the case, eliminating any appeals or punitive damages, which were to be decided later, Lawrence said.
Beirne said that nearly $26 million of the jury’s award was for future medical care for the boy, now 8, who was born Dec. 11, 2000 at the hospital.