DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Settlement for disabled child born after mother inhaled toxic fumes while pregnant

We reached a settlement with a pharmaceutical company for $9.5 million for a child born with severe birh defects.  The young girl has sustained severe physical and developmental disabilities.

We alleged that the young girl was disabled due to a pre-birth injury.  Her mother worked for the defendant pharmaceutical company as a lab technician.  When she was approximately 11 weeks pregnant, a co-worker heated phenylacetic acid in an oven next to the mother’s office. The mother became ill within an hour and had to seek emergency care.

When the child was born with birth defects, the mother, acting on behalf of the child, sued the company and a company that supplied the chemical, in St. Louis City Circuit Court in August 2005.

The $9.5 million settlement with the pharmaceutical company was subject to a confidentiality agreement.

Dan Ryan & Jill Bollwerk took on the case.  Dan Ryan filed the lawsuit in the case in 2005.  Dan brought in fellow attorney John Simon to assist with the case.

The case was fought very hard by the pharmaceutical company.  No blood tests were conducted when the mother went to the hospital after the inhalation, so we had no direct evidence of the fact that the chemical entered her bloodstream.  However, Dan did some research and found studies performed on rats exposed to the same chemical. The birth defects discovered in the rats’ offspring were very similar to those suffered by the child.

The defense argued the chemical exposure was too brief to cause major damage to a fetus. On the other hand, our experts pointed out that fetuses have no way to get rid of toxins that enter their system while in the womb. As a result, the fetus was most likely exposed to the chemical for weeks.

The defense made other arguments which we overcame.  First, they claimed that at the fetus’ gestational age of 11 weeks, the face and limbs would already be formed and left unaffected by the fumes. We countered by pointing to studies that damage to the face and limbs can still occur at 11 weeks gestation, which was when the mother was exposed to the chemical.  Second, the pharmaceutical company argued that child’s abnormalities could be due to a prior genetic condition. Genetic testing of the child showed two genetic abnormalities, but experts said that those abnormalities couldn’t be linked to her condition.

Our client was 10-years old at the time of settlement.  She requires around-the-clock care for the rest of her life.

The case settled at a mediation scheduled shortly before the trial of the case was to begin in early 2009.  The total settlement was for $9,500,000.00.

Awarded: $9,500,000.00