AgnewBrusavich Files Suit Against Children's Hospital

LOS ANGELES, CA – AgnewBrusavich, a Torrance-based serious personal injury law firm, filed a lawsuit against UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland (CHO) for medical negligence during a surgery that caused a 13-year-old patient, Jahi McMath, to suffer severe brain damage.

The lawsuit alleges that Dr. Frederick Rosen, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at CHO, recommended a risky surgery for Jahi's sleep apnea despite the fact that less drastic treatments are tried first in pediatric cases. Dr. Rosen noted that Jahi had congenital condition that would put her at risk of hemorrhaging post surgery, but failed to notify the girl's postoperative caretakers. When serious hemorrhaging did occur for hours, CHO doctors did not respond to the nurses reports of an emergent condition until Jahi was in cardiac arrest. The cardiac arrest lasted for more than two hours, leaving Jahi severely brain damaged and dependent on life support.

The girl's parents, Latasha and Marvin Winkfield, became the target of an aggressive campaign by CHO to persuade them to terminate Jahi's life support and donate her organs, even as the hospital evaded the Winkfields’ questions about what happened to their daughter.

"From Dr. Rosen's reckless recommendation of a high-risk procedure to CHO's failure to treat Jahi's foreseeable complications, the defendants were negligent in every step of this tragedy," says Bruce Brusavich of AgnewBrusavich. "The result is that a 13-year-old girl will never lead a normal life."

Founded in 1984, AgnewBrusavich represents those who have suffered serious personal injuries or the families of those who have been wrongfully killed from bicycle and vehicular accidents, medical malpractice, defective products, construction accidents, premises, elder abuse and other acts of negligence.