Jury Awards $15M to Girl Disabled by Missed Diagnosis in Tulsa ER

TULSA, Okla. – May 27, 2026 – A Tulsa County jury has awarded $15 million to a 7-year-old girl, finding that a pediatric emergency room physician’s failure to treat a bacterial infection when she was an infant led to catastrophic and permanent brain damage. The verdict provides for the lifelong care of August Montgomery, whose journey from a healthy baby to a child with profound disabilities began with a missed diagnosis in a Tulsa-area emergency room in 2018.

After deliberating for four hours, the jury assigned a monetary value to a lifetime of needed care and lost potential, concluding a six-day trial that scrutinized a physician's decisions on a fateful day. The case, Montgomery v. Katie Jackson, M.D., et. al., held the medical community and the public's attention, highlighting the devastating consequences of diagnostic errors in pediatric emergency medicine.

“This verdict is about August and what was needlessly taken from her,” said Jeffrey Rasansky of Dallas-based Rasansky | McKenzie, the Montgomery family’s trial counsel. “The jury saw what happened, and they did something no one had done for August in the seven years since. They acted.”

A Preventable Tragedy

In December 2018, 5-month-old August Montgomery was a seriously ill infant. Her parents brought her to a local emergency room for what was her third hospital visit in just five days. She presented with a constellation of alarming symptoms: fever, vomiting, lethargy, and decreased urine output. According to evidence presented at trial, laboratory tests ordered during that visit returned with what plaintiff’s experts called “textbook signals of bacterial infection.”

The ordered Complete Blood Count (CBC) showed abnormally elevated white blood cells, a classic indicator that the body is fighting a bacterial invader. However, the treating physician, Dr. Katie Jackson, diagnosed August with a “possible viral” illness. Critically, she discharged the infant without ordering a blood culture to confirm the type of infection or administering a precautionary dose of antibiotics.

Less than 48 hours later, August’s condition had deteriorated catastrophically. She was rushed back to the same emergency room, this time suffering from partial paralysis and seizures. A lumbar puncture, or spinal tap, confirmed the devastating diagnosis: bacterial meningitis. The infection had invaded the protective membranes surrounding her brain and spinal cord, causing rampant inflammation.

What followed was a harrowing 44-day hospitalization, during which the infant endured brain surgery and suffered multiple strokes. The damage was swift and irreversible. Today, at age 7, August lives with the consequences. She has cerebral palsy, severe cognitive delays, and functions at the developmental level of a toddler between 15 and 18 months old. She relies on cochlear implants to hear.

“August was born a happy, healthy child,” said trial co-counsel Sharon Morgan, a Partner at Wais, Vogelstein Forman Koch & Norman LLC. “August’s injuries were entirely preventable if only this physician had met the standard of care.”

A Breach in the Standard of Care

The central question of the trial, held before Judge Kevin Gray in Tulsa County District Court, was whether Dr. Jackson’s actions constituted a breach of the accepted medical standard of care. The jury’s verdict was a resounding yes.

Expert witnesses for the Montgomery family testified that the physician had all the necessary information to choose a different, safer path. One standard-of-care expert stated unequivocally that “once you order a CBC, and it shows abnormally elevated white blood cells you cannot ignore that result.”

Experts further explained that a simple blood culture would have identified the specific culprit—streptococcus bacteria—in under 24 hours. More importantly, they testified that a single dose of a common antibiotic like ceftriaxone, administered during that third ER visit, would have sterilized August’s bloodstream in approximately two hours, effectively stopping the infection before it could progress to full-blown meningitis.

“Every sign of bacterial infection was right there in front of the treating physician. The labs were in the chart. The patient’s history was in front of her,” Rasansky stated after the verdict. “And the path that would have prevented all of this, a blood culture and a single dose of antibiotics, was on the table, but was not chosen.”

The True Cost of Lifelong Care

The $15 million award is designated for future medical expenses and lost earnings, reflecting the immense financial reality of caring for someone with August’s profound disabilities. This figure is not a lottery win but a calculated provision for a lifetime of relentless needs.

Experts in catastrophic injury care estimate the lifetime cost for an individual with severe cerebral palsy can run into the tens of millions of dollars. The expenses cover a vast array of services and equipment, including regular appointments with specialists, round-the-clock attendant care, and extensive therapy sessions for physical, occupational, and speech development. For a child like August, monthly medical and therapy costs alone can run into thousands of dollars.

Beyond therapies, there is the staggering cost of adaptive equipment. Power wheelchairs can cost up to $35,000, specialized communication devices can exceed $15,000, and cochlear implants require ongoing maintenance. Homes and vehicles must be extensively modified for accessibility, with costs running into the tens of thousands. The jury's award is intended to ensure these essential resources are available to August for the rest of her life.

“Because of this doctor’s inaction, August will require ongoing medical treatment, adaptive equipment and attendant care for the rest of her life,” Morgan explained. “We are thankful to the jury for helping ensure that will be possible.”

A Verdict with Broader Implications

This significant verdict arrives within a legal environment in Oklahoma that has become more favorable to plaintiffs in recent years. In 2019, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases as unconstitutional, allowing juries to award damages that fully reflect the severity of an injury. The court also removed the “affidavit of merit” requirement, which had previously created a barrier to filing such lawsuits.

This legal shift means that verdicts like the one in August Montgomery’s case can serve as a powerful instrument of accountability. For hospitals and healthcare systems, a multi-million dollar award sends an undeniable message about the importance of adhering to diagnostic protocols and reinforces the need for robust risk management, particularly in high-stakes environments like pediatric emergency rooms. It underscores the profound responsibility physicians hold and the life-altering consequences when the standard of care is not met.