In the latest installment of what seems like a never-ending saga of litigation in the University's infamous baby-switching case, Paula K. Johnson has appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court concerning the dismissal of her $31 million lawsuit against the University Medical Center.
Johnson is suing for damages after her biological daughter was switched with another newborn in 1995.
The Court will decide sometime next year whether to uphold the decision by Stafford County Judge James W. Haley Jr. to throw out the case.
"I am very happy because not all cases people ask to have heard are taken by the court," Johnson's attorney, Ken Mergenthal, said.
Johnson discovered the baby switch in 1998, three years after the babies were born, when she, her ex-boyfriend, Carlton Conley, and her supposed daughter, Callie Marie Conley, completed a paternity test. The DNA results, which were to be used in a child-support dispute, proved that neither Johnson nor Conley was related to Callie Marie Conley.
Hospital officials quickly searched among the six other girls born in July 1995 to find the parents' biological daughter, whom they identified as Rebecca Chittum. before officials were able to notify Kevin Chittum and Whitney Rogers, the parents who had been raising Rebecca as their own child, the couple died in a car accident.
Chittum's and Rogers' parents, or Rebecca's non-biological grandparents, assumed custody of the child after the accident. But for more than a year following the discovery of the switch, Johnson fought with the grandparents for custody of Rebecca, before reaching a visitation settlement.
Rebecca's grandparents also accepted a $2 million settlement from the hospital because of the switch. But Johnson refused an equal offer and filed her $31 million lawsuit in 1999.
In a statement, the Virginia Attorney General's Office said it is not unusual for the court to review cases involving "novel or complex issues," adding that they expect the decision to be affirmed after further review.
In his decision, Haley cited Virginia's two-year statute of limitations on negligence claims against hospitals.
The Virginia Supreme Court has determined in the past that the statute of limitations should be measured from the moment a medical mistake is made, even if the victim is not immediately aware of the problem. In this case, the statute of limitations would have run out in 1997.
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