This is a tragic situation which will cause the court to take another look at Virginia’s low cap on medical malpractice damages. (See, Why Most Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime.)

Less than three years ago, Susan Anne Catherine Torres’ birth made medical history after she was delivered by a mother who was brain-dead and kept on life support in order to sustain the pregnancy.

Now a medical malpractice suit that was filed against one of the mother’s doctors has raised legal questions regarding the degree to which the obligations and liabilities of a doctor in treating a pregnant woman also extend to the unborn child.

Jason Torres, Susan Anne’s father and Susan Michelle Torres’ husband, filed suit a year ago in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He seeks damages of $15 million against Walter Dixon, the emergency-room physician who treated Susan Michelle at Inova Alexandria Hospital in 2005.

The suit alleges that not only is Dixon responsible for the death of the mother, he is also responsible for the baby’s death. The child died five weeks after birth due to complications from premature delivery.

Torres alleges that the symptoms indicating a more serious problem were dismissed by the doctor as “morning sickness.” The symptoms included memory lapses in which Susan Michelle was unable to recognize her husband sitting right beside her, which a nurse witnessed. According to Torres’ attorney, bleeding on the brain would have been revealed through further tests.

The same day Susan Michelle was discharged, she fell into a coma from a brain hemorrhage caused by melanoma and never regained consciousness. She was around 14 weeks pregnant at the time. She was kept on life support for three months and Susan Anne Catherine Torres was born 13 weeks prematurely. Susan Michelle was removed from life support and died the next day.