H. Briggs Bedigian: $108.6 million verdict against Jefferson Health in Einstein birth injury case
Jefferson Health hit with $108.6 million verdict in Einstein birth injury case
The verdict is the biggest medical malpractice verdict in the city since a record-setting $183 million award against Penn Medicine three years ago in another birth-injury case.
Published March 20, 2026, 8:50 a.m. ET
Jefferson Health hit with $108 million verdict birth injury case
A Philadelphia jury awarded a $108.6 million verdict Thursday in a Philadelphia birth-injury case against Jefferson Health and a pediatric practice it acquired along with Einstein Healthcare Network.
The verdict is the biggest medical malpractice verdict in the city since a record-setting $183 million award against Penn Medicine three years ago involving a birth injury at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia juries have a reputation for awarding what are called “nuclear verdicts.” Though most trials end in a verdict in favor of healthcare providers, the threat of massive verdicts has become a significant worry for area health systems, especially those with large labor and delivery operations for maternity care.
In the Jefferson case, the jury found an Einstein Pediatrics doctor liable for traumatic brain injuries suffered by a baby delivered in December 2018. The baby, called KJ in court filings, “suffered permanent neurologic injury,” according to the lawsuit filed July 2024.
The child, now 7½ years old, suffered damage to areas of the brain affecting cognitive and intellectual function, said lawyer E. Merritt Lentz, of Gilman & Bedigian LLC, who tried the case with his law partner Briggs Bedigian.
“He will grow up, he will grow into adolescence, he will grow into a young man, he will grow into an adult, but he will retain the brain of essentially a toddler,” Lentz said in an interview Friday.
Jefferson said in statement that it will appeal.
“Throughout the trial, the jury was not permitted to hear crucial evidence that showed conclusively that the clinicians provided exceptional medical care,” Jefferson said. “As a result, the jury was presented with a misleading picture of the medical facts, and liability was based on theories that were not supported by the medical record.”
The baby was born at what is now called Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital three years before Jefferson acquired that hospital in 2021.
Details on the award
The jury awarded $1.4 million for pain and suffering, $1 million for the loss of earnings capacity, and $106.1 million for future medical and other expenses during an expected additional life span of 68 years.
In cases like this, much of the award will be paid out over the child’s lifetime to cover the cost of care. That means Jefferson will be able to buy a form of insurance that covers those costs and not lay out the full $108 million, if the unanimous verdict stands.
The future expenses, which are paid quarterly, include the option for care in an institution that specializes in people with brain injuries, Lentz said.
The jury estimates the costs for each year “without any guidance other than speculative amounts given in trial,” Jefferson’s trial counsel, Claire Neiger, of Goldberg, Miller & Rubin P.C., said in a statement.
The law firm’s fee — typically a third of the award in cases involving minors — is based on the full amount.
Gilman & Bedigian, also won the Penn verdict in 2023.
Mixed results appealing verdicts
The University of Pennsylvania appealed its $183 million birth-injury verdict and ultimately lost last summer at Pennsylvania Superior Court. By then, the full judgment had grown to $207 million because of delay damages that are tacked on during the appeals process.
Temple University Health System successfully appealed a $45 million verdict in 2024. That case involved a teenager who aspirated food, which led to significant brain damage, after being discharged from treatment for a gunshot wound to the neck.
A Philadelphia judge subsequently made a rare decision to order a retrial in the case, finding that the jury’s verdict did “not make logical or legal sense” and that its award of future medical costs was “exorbitant.”
Before the retrial started, the case was settled last October for an undisclosed amount of money.
