Jury awards $20 million in medical malpractice case

Published 8:03 am Wednesday, August 30, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS  — A jury has awarded more than $20 million to the family of a woman who died days after giving birth to her son at a Minneapolis hospital.

The verdict in Hennepin County District Court Monday is the result of a lawsuit by Nicole Bermingham’s family against a nurse and Emergency Care Consultants, which provides emergency medical personnel to Abbott Northwestern Hospital. The 30-year-old new mother died in August 2013 after developing sepsis. Bermingham was discharged after giving birth, but later returned to the hospital with fever and nausea.

The Star Tribune says her family contended an emergency room nurse ignored lab results which showed Bermingham had sepsis and sent her back home. Bermingham returned to the hospital 12 hours later and died.

Email newsletter signup

An attorney for the defendants says no decision has been made on whether to appeal.