BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After two days of deliberations, and seven years of waiting, a Bakersfield family ended their legal battle for the 2019 deaths of 23-year-old Demi Dominguez and her newborn son Malakhi.
A jury awarded the family more than $9 million in the civil trial involving one of the physicians who had treated her in the days before she died.
It was the culmination of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Dominguez’s family and her fiance against former OB-GYN Arthur Park. KVPR featured the story in a series called Moms and Babies at Risk in 2022.
Dominguez died in 2019 from preeclampsia – a dangerous complication in pregnant women that starts with high blood pressure and may lead to stroke, seizure or death – after she was discharged by Park from Mercy Hospital Southwest. Her son was delivered by emergency C-section after her death and died less than a day later.
The jury on Wednesday found Park negligent in his treatment of Dominguez and awarded the families a total of $9.5 million dollars in non-economic losses, including compensation for the loss of love from both Dominguez and Malakhi.
But their attorney, Patrick Logan of Trial Lawyers for Justice, said they will receive only $250,000. That’s due to the 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, a state law that caps the non-economic damages that can be paid out from medical malpractice cases.
The case was filed in 2022 prior to the passing of California Assembly Bill 35 – a state law that went into effect in 2023 that increases the maximum amount awarded for a loss due to medical malpractice.
Dominguez’s mother, Tracy Dominguez, helped lobby to pass the new law even though it wouldn't benefit her.
Park was the on-call OB-GYN assigned to Dominguez when she checked into the hospital in April 2019 complaining of swelling.
She was discharged after 23 hours and given a prescription of Labetalol to help lower her blood pressure levels, even though the standard of care with patients at risk for preeclampsia is to administer magnesium through an IV and keep them in the hospital for observation.
A few days later her fiance, Xavier De Leon, woke to find Dominguez seizing. She died shortly thereafter.
This isn't the first time Park has faced repercussions for this incident. The Medical Board of California accused him of gross negligence and subsequently investigated his practice three times in his career – including once after Dominguez’s death – but stopped short of revoking his license. In 2021, he voluntarily surrendered his license.
Family speaks out, Park represents himself
Witness testimony during the trial laid out the events leading up to Dominguez’s death and the emotional days that followed. Media outlets were not allowed to record audio or video of the proceedings, but KVPR was present in the courtroom for the duration of the trial.
Dominguez’s mother and fiance, Xavier De Leon, both cried on the stand as they described Dominguez as someone with big dreams.
Park, meanwhile, represented himself, and he called forward no experts or witnesses. He gave short testimonies and struggled with court procedure, at times claiming the majority of his evidence was not allowed by the judge.
In his testimony, Park said he did not speak directly to Dominguez or examine her when she entered the hospital in 2019. He claimed he was never notified by nurses that her blood pressure levels were abnormal.
Los Angeles OB-GYN Dr. Michele Milovina was hired as an expert witness by the plaintiffs’ attorney and said that women showing signs of preeclampsia should be given magnesium though an IV, not a prescription. The medication would take too long to become effective.
Milovina also said that blood pressure levels over 160 are considered a medical emergency. Medical reports show that Dominguez had five blood pressure readings over 160 during her hospital stay.
Park blamed the high readings on a faulty blood pressure cuff.
Dr. Hans Yu, another doctor who treated Dominguez in that timeframe, was originally named in the lawsuit. The jury was told not to include him in their decision because no witnesses spoke on his behalf.
Yu settled outside the court a day before trial. He was also temporarily suspended from practicing medicine earlier this year due to accusations of negligence from the state Osteopathic Medical Board regarding his treatment of other patients.
Mercy Hospital Southwest was also named in the lawsuit but was not included as a defendant in the trial by the family's former lawyer.
The courtroom reacts to the verdict
Park said in the courtroom that he would have had legal representation if could have paid for it and was worried about paying the wrongful death money.
Members of Dominguez’s family, meanwhile, sighed with relief after hearing that Park was found to be negligent.
Outside the Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield, De Leon said he’s grateful for the support and prayers he’s received since 2019.
“Over the past seven years, it's felt like a cloud has been over my life,” De Leon said.
He teared up when asked what he would say to Dominguez, but gave a short message thanking her for giving him strength throughout the trial.
Tracy Dominguez spoke with KVPR a day after the trial. She said she’s happy with the verdict and hopes the case spreads awareness for preeclampsia and proper maternal medical treatment.
She urges families with unsatisfactory medical experiences to file complaints with the California Medical Board in order to hold doctors accountable.
“The only way to change [maternal mortality] is to change laws – explaining to the community how to file complaints because there's so many of them that are young mothers,” she said.
Tracy credits Michele Monserratt-Ramos, an advocate with the non-profit Consumer Watchdog, for helping her file their complaint.
Monserratt-Ramos has worked with both the families for several years and was present for the trial. She said this ruling is significant because the Central Valley has the highest maternal mortality rate in the state.
“[This case] represents hundreds of mothers and babies that lost their lives, and were harmed long term,” Monserratt-Ramos said. “Many of those families couldn't make it to this point that the Dominguez family and the De Leon family made it to.”
