Doctor Sued in the Case of the Brain-Dead Mother

Alexandria, VAThe mother of Susan Anne Catherine Torres was brain-dead at the time of her birth. It was life support that kept her mother alive so the pregnancy could be sustained and young Susan Anne could be brought into the world. This took place less than three years ago and now a medical malpractice lawsuit has been filed against one of the doctors. The legal questions that have been raised deal with what kind of obligations a doctor has when it comes to treating a pregnant woman and if those liabilities extend to the unborn fetus.

Jason Torres, the husband of Susan Michelle Torres and father of Susan Anne, filed the lawsuit in 2007 in Alexandria, Virginia's U.S. District Court. The damages he seeks are in the amount of $15 million against Dr. Walter D. Dixon. Dixon was the physician who was on duty in the Inova Alexandria Hospital emergency room the night Susan Michelle was brought to the hospital in 2005.

The lawsuit is holding Dixon responsible for Susan Michelle's death and for Susan Anne's death. Susan Anne only lived five weeks after her delivery because of complications resulting from her premature birth.

Jason Torres is alleging that Dixon took symptoms that Susan Michelle was experiencing to be nothing more than morning sickness. However, the symptoms that she was displaying, according to her husband and a hospital nurse, were indicative of a more severe problem. The nurse witnessed Susan Michelle having memory lapses because she did not even recognize her husband when he was sitting next to her. The Lawyer for Jason Torres says that further tests would have shown that Susan Michelle had bleeding on her brain.

Susan Michelle was then released from the hospital after morning sickness was her diagnosis. Shortly after, she fell into a coma from a brain hemorrhage that was a result of melanoma. She never became conscious again and was only 14 weeks pregnant at the time. That is when Jason Torres made the decision to keep Susan Michelle on life support to allow the baby to develop enough to be born.

For three months Susan Michelle was kept on life support, which was just long enough to allow Susan Anne to be born. She was born 13 weeks premature and it was the day after her birth that her mother was taken off life support.

The birth made medical history because data all the way back to 1979 showed that there had been less than twelve cases in which birth had been given by a brain-dead mother. Then there was the fact that there were no known cases in which a brain-dead woman with cancer had given birth.

Nevertheless, Susan Anne did well for the first few weeks of her life. This is despite her two pound birth weight. However, an intestinal disorder took her little 5-week-old life in September 2005.

It has been difficult for the legal system to interpret this particular case because it is so unique. Two different judges in Fairfax County had disagreed on whether or not the suit should move forward, but the case was eventually filed in federal court. There are debates as to whether the fetus could be considered a patient of Dixon. Then there is debate as to whether or not Dixon is really responsible. However, it is alleged that Susan Michelle would have lived long enough to carry the baby to term if she had received proper care.

The case is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on May 3, 2008. Dixon's employer, Emergency Medical Associates, has also been named as a defendant. The case will go to trial in September.

By: Ginger Gillenwater