Michael Karp · Robert Welcenbach · Kristen Hendra
$1,975,000 Medical Malpractice Verdict For "Bruising" From Emergency C-Section
March 30, 2026 ||
Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin secured a $1,975,000 verdict following a four-day medical malpractice trial in Milwaukee County against Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Community Physicians.
The case, tried by Michael Karp, Robert Welcenbach, and Kirsten Hendra after being taken over from prior counsel, involved chemical burns suffered by a mother (our client) during her emergency C-section.
During the emergent pre-incision prep, the surgical team performed a “splash prep” allowing Betadine (antiseptic) solution to pool beneath our clients body on the operating table and while the surgery proceeded and her baby was delivered safely, the antiseptic continued to contact her skin, causing burns that would go unrecognized for over 24 hours.
The defense developed a simple but strong frame: this was an emergent crash C-section with both maternal and fetal lives at risk, where the surgical team had seconds to complete the skin/splash prep and make the incision.
In that emergent environment, the defense argued, standard precautions like towels or drying time were not merely inconvenient but unreasonable. They further challenged causation, noting that Betadine burns of this nature are exceedingly rare and likely reflect patient-specific sensitivity, and asserted comparative fault based on the plaintiff's delayed return for follow-up care.
Wisconsin's rejection of the "captain of the ship" doctrine added another layer of complexity, requiring liability to be established separately across two defendant entities.
Plaintiff's counsel pursued two independent theories of negligence: intraoperative pooling of antiseptic solution beneath the patient by nursing staff, and postoperative mismanagement in which providers repeatedly mischaracterized her progressive burn wounds as an "abrasion" while failing to initiate burn care or specialist referral.
Rather than contest the urgency of the delivery, counsel used the hospital's own policies to establish that the risk of pooling was foreseeable and accounted for even in emergency protocols.
Defense witnesses were called adversely to construct the affirmative case, and counsel secured a live admission from the attending OB that the postpartum team had breached the standard of care.
The jury deliberated for approximately 3.5 hours before finding negligence at both stages of care, allocating 80% fault to the hospital and 20% to the physician group. Damages totaled $1,750,000 in past noneconomic damages and $225,000 in future noneconomic damages, with economic damages waived. The verdict was approximately 39.5 times the defense's highest pretrial offer.
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