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VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS DECEMBER 28, 2020 ¦ 25

was born with the genetic disease Elizabeth Trotter and her
in November 2018. husband, Erik, are looking to in-
“They pushed back on the con- troduce legislation that would
fidentiality agreement, but having require all OB-GYNs to offer pre-
no such agreement was impor- natal genetic screening to their
tant to both parents because they Plaintiffs counsel Kelly patients, Reardon said. It’s some-

wanted the ability to speak freely Reardon of The Reardon thing that’s never been done before
of their experience and ensure in any state, she said.
their story was told so this type of Law Firm has clinched a According to the Cystic Fibrosis
mistake never happens again,” said Foundation website, Madelyn’s life
Reardon, a partner with The Rear- $2 million settlement for expectancy is about 44 years.
don Law Firm in New London. her clients, parents of a
little girl born with cystic “Today, the child is doing rea-
‘The most important thing’ sonable well, but there are a lot
fibrosis.

After 10 days of intense nego- of medical problems that require
tiations over whether to have a regular care. This is a lifelong is-
confidentiality agreement, the sue,” Reardon said.
defendants agreed to settle for In addition to OB-GYN Servic-
the insurance policy limit of $2 es and Kalla, Dr. Stephen Briggs
million without a confidentiality agreement. The was also listed as a defendant.
agreement was finalized Dec. 14. Representing the defendants were Heidi Cilano
While not having such an agreement in a medical and Blaine Bruner of Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy &
malpractice case is rare, what is almost unheard of is Bach in Bridgeport. Neither attorney responded to
having the doctor responsible for the mistake speak a request for comment Tuesday.
to the victim. But Reardon said the Trotter family In court pleadings, the defense’s main objection
insisted on that as part of the agreement. The de- focused on how the lawsuit framed some of its
fense agreed to the stipulation, Reardon said. words. The defense objected to the plaintiff ’s termi-
“It was a very emotional 30 minutes,” said Rear- nology of “wrongful life” in the lawsuit. The defense
don, who took part in the Zoom call between her wrote that “Wrongful life is not a recognized cause
clients and Dr. David Kalla, one of the defendants. of action in Connecticut.”
Reardon continued: “He did apologize. He ex- No one from OB-GYN Services Inc. responded to
plained what happened, from their perspective, and a request for comment.
what has been done in the practice to change policies ¦

to make sure it never happens again. This meeting Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and
with Dr. Kalla was the most important thing for my analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow
client.” him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at
An amended lawsuit was filed in August.
203-437-5950.

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