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Obstetrician found liable for malpractice Originally published May 17, 2007 A Baltimore obstetrician and former city councilman was found liable for medical malpractice yesterday, and ordered by a city jury to pay $8.1 million to the parents of a baby boy he delivered in 2003. The jury found that Dr. Emerson R. Julian Jr., an obstetrician in private practice, was responsible for the brain damage suffered by infant Caleb Spence during a difficult delivery at Mercy Medical Center. But the damages would be limited to just over $2.1 million under Maryland law putting a cap on awards for pain and suffering. Caleb died about a year later from a respiratory illness related to his permanent brain damage, according to the case presented by the Spence family's attorney, Barry L. Steelman. "Obviously, there's going to be a world of pain and memories that we will carry with us," said the baby's father, Christopher Spence, a chemist who moved from Govans to Long Island, N.Y., after the birth. Julian's attorney said his client will appeal. "The jury was obviously consumed by emotion," lawyer Ronald Shaw said. "In my view, they didn't give us a fair and objective assessment." Julian, now of Owings Mills, was appointed to the City Council in 1978, completing the term of his father, Emerson R. Julian Sr., who died that year. He did not seek election in 1979. Mercy - where Julian has medical privileges - agreed to a confidential out-of-court settlement with the Spence family last year, Steelman said. During the delivery, Caleb's shoulders became stuck in his mother's birth canal, a condition known as shoulder dystocia. In such circumstances, the baby's breathing may be obstructed, so doctors use various techniques to extract the infant as quickly as possible. The Spence family claimed that Julian used an extraction technique known to be dangerous, an allegation that the obstetrician disputes.
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