A civil jury in Maine has awarded $25m to a woman whose teenage daughter died from leukemia after being misdiagnosed with a condition linked to steroid-using men.
The hefty verdict delivered in favor of Lyndsey Sutherland on Thursday called for her to receive $10m for the wrongful 2021 death of 15-year-old Jasmine “Jazzy” Vincent as well as $15m for pain and suffering, said her attorney, Meryl Poulin.
Poulin said on Friday that the verdict could be appealed, and an applicable Maine state law caps wrongful death damages at $750,000. Nonetheless, Poulin said, she hoped the amount awarded to her client sends “a clear message that Maine juries are willing to hold medical providers accountable when they fail to meet minimum standards of care”.
“There are so many and yet so few words to capture the impact of this result,” Poulin added in a statement to the Guardian. “Watching Lyndsey continue to push year after year, uphill, against the odds, to get justice for her daughter was beyond inspiring. This result was possible because of her unbelievable perseverance and determination to obtain justice for Jazzy.
“I hope that this verdict will finally bring some peace and closure for the tragic loss of this beautiful, innocent 15-year-old girl.”
Jazzy was initially diagnosed with pneumonia after becoming ill on 14 July 2021, according to reporting from the Maine news outlet WMTW.
A doctor with the Mid Coast Medical Group later concluded Jazzy had gynecomastia, which is an increase in breast tissue that is frequently found in men who use anabolic steroids, as noted by Maine’s Portland Press Herald.
Jazzy subsequently died of cardiac arrest on 1 August 2021, a little more than two weeks after she first indicated she felt sick. It was later determined that Jazzy’s death resulted from a buildup of fluid stemming from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which Sutherland’s attorneys contended was a common kind of pediatric cancer that responds well to treatment if diagnosed appropriately. Sutherland ultimately sued Mid Coast, alleging negligence in the death of Jazzy, who lived in Maine’s New Gloucester area.
Attempts to contact Mid Coast Medical Group for comment were not immediately successful. But WMTW reported that Mid Coast’s attorneys maintained that medical personnel are tasked with making many decisions daily, and honest mistakes should not be punished.
Mid Coast’s attorneys also argued that another provider who first saw Jazzy had some responsibility as well.
Jurors sided with Sutherland after a trial that began on Monday.
Sutherland testified during the trial, according to the Press Herald.
“I don’t want anybody [else] to have to do this,” Sutherland reportedly said on the witness stand while discussing why she was pursuing her lawsuit. “Nobody should have to do this.”
