Carbon Dioxide for Oxygen: $16.5 Million Federal Verdict Against Tripler Army Medical Center

On January 14, 2005, a newborn delivered by Caesarean section at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu received carbon dioxide instead of oxygen in the minutes after birth. Army Maj. Danielle Bird, the attending pediatrician, administered the gas from a cylinder that had no place in a delivery suite: a carbon dioxide tank ordinarily used for stomach surgeries. The error went uncorrected for roughly 42 minutes, until the tank ran close to empty.

The oxygen deprivation caused severe hypoxic brain damage. The child, born to Army staff sergeant Dwight Peterson and his wife Shalay, was left unable to speak, eat, or breathe without mechanical support and would require around-the-clock nursing care for the rest of his life. Neurological testimony established that no meaningful recovery was anticipated.

The Peterson family filed suit against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. L. Richard Fried Jr. of Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina and Fairbanks represented the family. In July 2006, following pre-trial proceedings, the government conceded sole liability for the child's injuries. Because Dr. Bird was never deposed under oath after that concession, the precise chain of events that placed the wrong cylinder in the operating room was never formally established in testimony.

The case moved to a bench trial before U.S. District Judge David Ezra on damages alone. Fried presented evidence of lifetime care costs, projected medical expenses running decades into the future, lost earning capacity, and the physical and emotional toll on both the child and his parents. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Yee contested the damages figure for the government.

Judge Ezra entered judgment for $16,497,263 in October 2006. Of that total, $12.2 million was allocated to lifetime medical expenses. The balance addressed lost future income, mental anguish, and pain and suffering. Fried noted that no single personal-injury award in Hawaii's history had reached that level for one individual. No appeal was filed. In the aftermath, Tripler removed portable gas cylinders from its operating rooms and fitted all Caesarean delivery suites with wall-mounted piped oxygen lines.