$40 Million Verdict for Family of Boy Left with Cerebral Palsy After Five-Hour Delivery Delay

On the night of November 7, 1996, Lisa Antonelli arrived at Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell at 38 weeks pregnant, not in labor but worried because she could not feel her baby moving. Obstetrician Dr. Jacqueline Halladay ran two tests that both showed the fetus in distress and deprived of oxygen.

By 1:30 a.m., the tests made clear that an emergency cesarean section was needed. Dr. Halladay did not order one. The surgery did not happen until 7:05 a.m., roughly five and a half hours later. Philip Antonelli Jr. was delivered with severe brain damage.

Philip, who was eight years old at the time of trial, has cerebral palsy and functions at the level of a two- to four-year-old. He requires help with daily activities, uses braces to walk, has limited control of his right hand, has difficulty speaking, and has a shunt implanted to drain fluid from his brain.

Robert Higgins of Lubin and Meyer tried the case in Middlesex County Superior Court. On August 17, 2005, the jury returned a verdict of nearly $40 million, including interest, finding Dr. Halladay negligent for the prolonged delay. The award was the largest personal-injury verdict in Massachusetts state history at the time, surpassing a previous record of $30 million set in 1992 in another birth-injury case.

Under a pre-trial agreement, the verdict could not be appealed. The amount actually recovered by the family was limited to Dr. Halladay's malpractice insurance policy maximum, which was not publicly disclosed.