A Charlotte County jury awarded $23 million to a Miami woman whose extremely premature daughter was born with severe brain damage and cerebral palsy due to alleged medical malpractice.

The April 24 verdict apportioned 70 percent liability to the woman's physician, Dr. Michael Coffey of Port Charlotte, and 30 percent to the hospital where the baby was born, Peace River Regional Medical Center, now Bayfront Health Port Charlotte.

“Jury verdicts not only help individual plaintiffs, jury verdicts can also act as a deterrent for other negligent activity,” said lead plaintiffs attorney Stuart Ratzan of Ratzan Law Group in Miami, who requested $54 million in damages. “When jurors identify negligence based on the evidence—whether in hospitals, on the roadways or anywhere—it makes it safer for everyone.”