The recent malpractice lawsuit brought on by the surviving family members of a Wright County, Minnesota woman resulted in a $4.6 million dollar award. The wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit was filed against the hospital in which the woman died while giving birth and the doctors delivering the baby.

The woman died from excessive bleeding and hemorrhaging after giving birth to a son at Monticello-Big Lake Community Hospital, which is now named the New River Medical Center. The doctors delivering the baby were not able to perform a surgical procedure that could have saved her life because the hospital facility failed to provide enough blood for transfusion in time. Although the woman' doctors were initially named in the lawsuit, they were found not guilty by the jury.

The Chicago medical malpractice lawyer representing the family of the deceased woman said that it was apparent that the doctors were not at fault as soon as the trial got underway, "Her doctors needed blood to save her life. It was as simple as that." Although the doctors saw the necessity to perform the surgery, they were unable to do so because they did not have the blood required to go ahead with the surgery.

Attorneys representing the hospital alleged that the doctors were at fault and should have gone ahead and performed the surgical procedure without the blood. A jury awarded the woman' family a total of $4.6 million dollars. The award includes compensation to the victim' family for past and future economic loss in addition to the loss of her companionship. Although paperwork hasn't been filed, a representative from the hospital issued a statement indicating that the hospital is considering an appeal. The statement also declined to release any expert-witness documents supporting the defense due to the fact that they contained private medical data.