The State - News from April 5, 1985

A 7-year-old boy was awarded a $4.6-million judgment by a Stockton Superior Court jury after it decided that his irreversible brain damage was caused by negligence at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Attorneys for the parents of Camilo Garcia said the money will enable them to take the boy home from a nursing home where he has lived for five years. Sister Mary Gabriel, hospital president, said the verdict will be appealed. The parents contended that when their infant son became suddenly ill in 1978, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was ignored for several minutes, during which time he stopped breathing. The Stockton Ambulance Co. was also sued but settled with the Garcias on the first day of trial, agreeing through its insurance company to pay $1 million, according to an attorney.