A medical clinic in Johnson County filed for bankruptcy after facing a $75 million malpractice judgment to parents of a newborn who suffers permanent brain damage.

In 2018, the newborn sustained serious brain damage after his birth at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City after health care providers allegedly improperly used forceps and a vacuum, crushing the baby’s head during delivery.

The parents of the newborn, Kathleen and Andrew Kromphardt, sued Mercy Hospital of Iowa City, Obstetric and Gynecologic Associates of Iowa City and Coralville and Jill Goodman, an obstetrician-gynecologist and one of the directors of the Coralville clinic.

A Johnson County jury awarded more than $98 million in March to the family for the clinic’s malpractice and negligence throughout the child’s pregnancy, labor, and birth. 

Des Moines attorney Fred James, who helped represent the Kromphardts, said he believed it to be the largest medical malpractice judgment in Iowa history.

The jury found Mercy Hospital and the Coralville clinic to each be 50 percent at fault in the case. Mercy Hospital’s liability was capped at $7 million in a pre-trial agreement with the parents, which they paid shortly following the trial. Coralville clinic is liable for the remainder of the award.

The Kromphardts’ attorney claims that the Coralville clinic’s total liability is now $75 million, while the clinic’s lawyers have taken the position that the clinic is responsible for roughly $45 million, or half of the $98 million award once the hospital’s $7 million payment is subtracted.

The clinic filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on Oct. 31, which allows a corporation to remain in business while it seeks to reorganize. 

The filing is a result of the jury award of $98 million along with an anticipation of suing its insurance provider because the provider hasn’t paid the clinic’s policy limits of $12 million for the judgment.