A family of a baby girl whose neck was broken—resulting in a spinal cord injury that caused paralysis—is now suing the Orlando facility following her death, claiming they tried to cover up the baby’s injury in a new medical malpractice case.
Jahxy Peets was born about three months early at the Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies where she was intubated and admitted to the NICU in June 2022. While there, a nurse allegedly broke the 2-week-old baby’s neck and placed her back in her incubator without alerting other staff or medical professionals. The break caused a “debilitating spinal cord injury” that left the newborn paralyzed.
Other staff later noticed that the baby was not moving her arms or legs. Jahxy stopped breathing on her own and her organs began shutting down, her parents’ attorneys told local media. A June 29, 2022, MRI revealed the injury. The family’s attorneys claim that there was an attempted cover-up to hide Jahxy’s injuries.
Lawsuit
On Oct. 17, 2024, approximately two years after their daughter’s death, her parents filed a lawsuit.
The hospital previously admitted that it was liable for the newborn’s death, a move that would limit the family’s recovery in arbitration under Florida Statute 766.207. The family rejected this admission so that they could find out what really happened to their daughter, lawyers told local media.
While the hospital admitted it was liable, it has not revealed who was responsible for the newborn’s injury. The family’s lawyers claim that police were never notified and no criminal investigation took place.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners attorneys have been representing victims of medical malpractice in Florida for nearly five decades. Our attorneys have decades of experience handling the most complicated and tragic cases of negligence at the hands of Florida medical professionals resulting in recoveries totaling $73,287,000 for victims or grieving families. In that time, the firm has gone against hospitals, retirement and mental health facilities with the aim to achieve the best possible outcome for their injured clients.
The firm previously handled the case of a 34-year-old wife and mother for negligent medical care and treatment. Attorneys secured an $8.8 million settlement in that case.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys represented a family whose newborn was born with cerebral palsy after a doctor’s actions during her birth deprived her of oxygen. The birth lasted days and Pitocin given to the mother to induce labor was unsuccessful.
The doctor in this case chose to use a vacuum for over 45 minutes before resorting to applying fundal pressure. This technique refers to a doctor applying pressure to a mother’s abdomen to push a baby down the birthing canal. Uterine rupture is a side-effect of this technique and occurred in this case, cutting off oxygen flow to the baby.
Leesfield & partners secured a $24.1 million award for the family.
The firm represented the family of another newborn injured in a medical negligence case. The baby in that case suffered neurological injuries.
A $2 million verdict was returned in that case.
The firm recovered over $10 million in a birth trauma case against an unnamed hospital.
The firm also has extensive experience in cruise ship medical malpractice cases. One such case handled by the firm involved a crewmember who went to the ship’s infirmary for symptoms of nausea. He was given a medication rapidly through his IV that should have been given to him slowly and injected deep into the muscle. The result was instant, excruciating pain. His doctors began searching the internet for ways to help him. His fingers blackened and, when he was later able to evacuate to a hospital on land, it was determined his arm could not be saved. Doctors had to amputate.
A $3,337,500 award was achieved by Leesfield & Partners attorneys for the man in that case.
For a 9-month-old baby with meningitis, whom cruise ship doctors mistook for having a stomach bug, the misdiagnosis came at a great cost. Instead of seeing the signs of the bacterial infection and administering the proper antibiotic, the child’s condition worsened. Doctors later had to amputate and three limbs were ultimately removed.
A multi-million settlement was reached for the family in that case.
If you think you have a medical malpractice claim in Florida, call 305-854-4900 or 800-836-6400. For more information, please visit www.Leesfield.com.