SEATTLE — Court documents show the Army has withdrawn plans to appeal a $12.3 million verdict awarded to the family of a child who was seriously burned in an operating-room fire at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
The Seattle Times reports the move clears the way to release money the child needs for additional surgeries and rehabilitation.
The 13-month-old son of an active-duty soldier spent 22 days in an intensive care and burn unit in 2015 after a botched surgery ignited a fireball that left second- and third-degree burns across the boy’s face and neck. The boy, identified in court documents as BJP, is now 5 years old.
The decision to withdraw the appeal came more than two months after the Army, after admitting responsibility for the fire in court documents, announced it would take the verdict to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The damages came in nearly four times the amount government attorneys had recommended the child and his parents be paid.
The damages were determined by U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton in Tacoma following an extensive hearing about the challenges the child must overcome after the 2015 incident.
The child’s attorneys argued the delay caused by an appeal would postpone additional surgeries and treatments the now 5-year-old boy requires.
