BANGOR — A federal judge has upheld a jury award of $200,000 to a Millinocket woman who suffered a miscarriage after being discharged against her wishes from Eastern Maine Medical Center.

U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock on Monday upheld the jury’s October decision and also denied the hospital’s motion for a new trial.

Lorraine claimed the Bangor hospital violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act by sending her home on July 1, 2007, after determining her 16-week-old fetus didn’t have a heartbeat. She delivered her dead son later that day at home.

Eastern Maine Medical Center attorney George Schelling told the Bangor Daily News that he wasn’t surprised by Woodcock’s decision, saying it clears the way for the hospital to appeal the verdict to the federal appeals court.


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