I’ll never forget the words or the way they filled the room. They were ordinary words, delivered in serious, yet distant tones from a doctor I had only recently met. “Your son has suffered brain damage,” he said. “It’s unlikely he will ever walk.”
“In fact,” the doctor continued, “the complications will probably result in termination of life before age two.”
And with that, I left the hospital with my new baby boy, Jerry.
Our story is why I feel so strongly about defeating this ill-conceived constitutional amendment, Measure 35.
Seven years ago, when Jerry was ready to be born, I was 37 and overdue. I asked for a Caesarian, but my doctor didn’t believe in them. She said I should “buck up” and go through labor.
I was kept in labor for 48 hours. Late at night — the second night I was in the hospital, exhausted, I asked for a Caesarian again. Again, my doctor told me to “buck up.”
It was during this time, as I would find out later, that there were clear medical signs my baby was in extreme distress.
Thankfully, an anesthesiologist came in and took a closer look at my baby’s vital signs. He turned white. He told the nursing staff he wouldn’t touch me until the baby was “stabilized.” This was the first time I realized that something was wrong.
My doctor was gone. The hospital staff found another OB/GYN. When she arrived, she immediately performed an emergency Caesarian. It turned out that my baby had been suffocating in the womb. Compounding the problem, nurses had inserted a resuscitation tube down Jerry’s throat the wrong way, so he was still without oxygen until the mistake had been noticed.
Afterward, the hospital instructed its staff not to talk to us. I thought we were at least due an explanation.
What were we supposed to do? Shrug our shoulders and go away?
We turned to Oregon’s justice system. With the help of our attorneys, the truth trickled out: The doctor failed to tell me that Jerry was not
responding to the induction. The hospital was understaffed to deal with an emergency that night. The nurses went far beyond the prescribed level for pitocin, the drug that induces labor. The nurses destroyed the paperwork.
Eventually, it would be up to a jury to decide who’s accountable and who’s responsible for Jerry’s medical needs. I was fine with that. I’ve served on juries and knew jurors try to do their best to be fair.
On the eve of trial, the insurance company came to us with a settlement that would provide Jerry with the care required by someone with severe brain damage. It was a long way from their original suggestion of putting Jerry in an institutional setting where his care would be paid for by taxpayers.
If this measure had been in effect, it’s clear in my mind that Jerry would be living in a group home somewhere, and I would have never found out what really happened during my childbirth.
It shouldn’t be up to insurance company executives to decide what happens to children like Jerry when mistakes are made. Those decisions are better made by juries — people like you and me. People with no financial interest in the outcome.
Let’s not change that system. Let’s not change our constitution.

Kathy Brooks lives in Portland.