A settlement was recently reached between Concord Hospital and the family of Molly Banzhoff, ending a wrongful death suit the family had filed against the medical center. According to court records, the suit was settled back in mid-October. It was originally filed after the child, who was 13-years-old at the time of her death in the spring of 2016, “died of complications from an undetected brain tumor.”
A settlement was recently reached between Concord Hospital and the family of Molly Banzhoff, ending a wrongful death suit the family had filed against the medical center. According to court records, the suit was settled back in mid-October. It was originally filed after the child, who was 13-years-old at the time of her death in the spring of 2016, “died of complications from an undetected brain tumor.”
At the moment, details of the settlement are being kept confidential. In fact, Jennifer Dearborn, a spokesperson for the hospital, said in an emailed statement that the settlement includes “a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement that prohibits both sides from talking about the settlement.”
While the child’s family and lawyers have yet to return requests for comment, the case was “voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again,” according to court documents. Named as defendants in the suit were Concord Hospital Inc., Concord Pediatrics, Concord Emergency Medical Associates, Concord Family Health Center, and Capital Regional Health Care Corp. Three doctors were also named in the suit, including Dolly Courtemanche, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Ashley Fox, though neither one of them have received disciplinary action from the state’s board of medicine.
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What happened, though? Well, according to the suit, for months leading up to Banzoff’s death in May of 2016, she had complained often of “severe migraines, nausea, problems with her vision and tongue numbness.” Despite her complaints, her “pediatricians and emergency room doctors did not perform diagnostic brain imaging.” Eventually, she was admitted to the emergency room, but even then her doctors failed to “order an emergency CT brain scan until after Banzhoff was unresponsive and had stopped breathing twice,” the lawsuit argued.
Unfortunately, by the time she underwent a CT, the “tumor growing in her brain was so large that it caused fluid to build up and massive pressure that destroyed all neurologic function.” Soon after, she was “declared brain dead and removed from life support at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.”
The incident rocked the Concord community, and hundreds of friends and family banded together to pay tribute and celebrate her life with an event titled, “Molly B: The Musical.” It was held in Concord at the Capital Center for the Arts and “included tributes and performances.” Because of the outpouring of support from the community, Concord Hospital “requested and was granted a venue change to Hillsborough County Superior Court’s southern division in Nashua.” When commenting on why the hospital made the particular request, attorneys for the hospital said:
“Molly was clearly a popular child with deep ties to the community, as evidenced by the overwhelming show of support her family received after her death. Her mother, Plaintiff Barb Higgins, is a well-known figure in the local community…These ties, and the media coverage of this case will prevent the Defendants from having a fair and impartial trial in Merrimack County.”
Sources:
Concord girl’s wrongful death suit settled
Judge agrees to move Banzhoff wrongful death trial to Nashua
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