Family seeks millions from obstetrician, ultrasound clinics after son born with disabilities

Family seeks millions from obstetrician, ultrasound clinics after son born with disabilities
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Bruce R. Bennett/Palm Beach Post Ana Mejia testified Wednesday, August 31, 2011, in the court of Judge Lucy Brown. Ana Mejia's son was born with essentially no arms and only one leg. Now nearly three years old, Bryan is a happy toddler, but Mejia and her husband Rodolfo Santana know his future is bleak. On Tuesday, they asked a Palm Beach County Circuit Court jury to help Bryan Santana live some semblance of a normal life by ordering the Palm Beach Gardens obstetrician and the companies she works for to pay $9 million toward his future care as well as award an unspecified amount for their own pain and suffering.
By JANE MUSGRAVE
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 8:26 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011
Posted: 8:04 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011
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WEST PALM BEACH — At age 3, Bryan Santana is too young to tell his mother what it's like to see other children chasing each other or tossing a ball, knowing he can't join them.

But, she said, she knows her son, who was born with one leg and arms that end mere inches from his shoulders, gets frustrated.

"He sees kids running and playing. He looks like he wants to do the same, but he just can't," a teary-eyed Ana Mejia told a Palm Beach County Circuit Court jury Wednesday.

Mejia's emotional testimony came on the second day of trial in her multi-million-dollar lawsuit, accusing Palm Beach Gardens obstetrician Dr. Marie Morel and two ultrasound clinics of negligence for not warning her and her husband of their unborn son's disabilities.

Had she known, she said, she would have terminated the pregnancy rather than subject Bryan to what she believes will be a life of physical and psychological pain and untold hardship.

"Definitely, I would have had an abortion," she said.

Despite having seven ultrasounds at OB/GYN Specialists of the Palm Beaches, Perinatal Specialists of the Palm Beaches and St. Mary's Medical Center, no one noticed that her son had only one full limb. She and her husband, Rodolfo Santana, reached a confidential settlement with St. Mary's.

She described how excited she and her husband were when they arrived at St. Mary's on Oct. 15, 2008, where she would have a Cesarean section.

While she had a daughter, Bryan would be the couple's firstborn. "We were so happy that day," she said in her native Spanish, with an interpreter turning her words into English for the eight-member jury.

That joy quickly turned into confusion, then anguish. First, she said, she couldn't understand why they whisked Bryan away shortly after he was born.

When he was brought to her, he was swaddled tightly in a blanket. "We were so happy when we saw him," she said.

Then, she was she told why the baby was secreted away.

"I wanted to die," she said. "I couldn't believe it was happening. My son. My son."

When she finally held him, still swaddled, she hugged and kissed him. She drew up her courage to remove the blanket. "It was heart-breaking to see," she said, struggling to hold back tears.

She and Santana have tried to help Bryan deal with his disabilities. He goes to therapy. He has a prostheses for his missing leg. But, she said, it's uncomfortable for him.

Unlike other toddlers, he can only take a few steps even with her help. Like other toddlers, he likes to play with toys. But with no hands, it's difficult for him to push his trucks or cuddle stuffed animals.

A rehabilitation consultant hired by her lawyers told jurors it will take $9 million to cover the equipment, medical care and services Bryan he will need to live a normal life. The couple is also seeking an unspecified amount for pain and suffering.

Mejia agreed when attorney Mark Rosen, who represents Morel and the clinics, emphasized that no medical worker caused her son's deformities. He showed her forms she signed, acknowledging that she understood that ultrasounds aren't "a warranty that the fetus is normal."

At the urging of Mejia's attorney, Jason Weisser, Circuit Judge Lucy Brown prohibited Rosen from asking Mejia how she could say she would have aborted the son she now loves. The question is not what she would do today, but what she would have done three years ago had she been told of her son's disabilities, Brown said.

Instead, Rosen showed Mejia a photo of a smiling Bryan at Disney World.

"Does he enjoy life?" Rose asked.

"I think so," Mejia said.

"Do you want him to go to college, get married and have kids?" he asked.

"I want the best for him," she answered.

"Does his life have value?" he concluded.

"Yes, a lot of value. Great value," she said.

The trial is expected to wrap up late next week