Jury Award Cut in Child’s Death
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A $2-million jury award to the mother of a 3-year-old boy who died of congestive heart failure after being misdiagnosed by an Anaheim Hills doctor was reduced Wednesday to $250,000 because of state laws limiting the size of awards in health-care malpractice suits, attorneys said.
“This is a bittersweet ending to the story,” said Jon Mower, an attorney representing Debra Soderberg Mann of Garden Grove.
Mann’s son, Brad Soderberg, died on Jan. 10, 1998, two days after being examined by Dr. Doreen Rioux, a family physician. Noticing a swelling in the little boy’s chest, Rioux ordered an X-ray that showed an enlarged heart, Mower said. Apparently, though, “she didn’t appreciate the severity of this,” the attorney said, “because she told the mom to make an appointment sometime the next week.”
Two days later, Mower said, the boy died in his sleep of congestive heart failure.
“This was a very emotional thing to go through,” Mower said of the bereaved mother. “She is happy” about the verdict.
Neither Rioux nor her attorney could be reached for comment.
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