The Utah Supreme Court has ruled for the defendants in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by the parents of a 2-year-old boy who suffered brain damage while at Primary Children's Medical Center.

The child's parents had sued Intermountain Health Care Hospitals Inc., Scott Olsen, who worked for IHC's insurance adjuster Scott Wetzel Services Inc., and Wetzel's attorney, Stephen G. Morgan.But the lawsuit was dismissed by 3rd District Judge David S. Young, who ruled Roger and Polly Atkinson's claims of being misled by the hospital and its insurer were groundless.

The court unanimously upheld that ruling.

The Atkinsons complained they had been misled into agreeing to a settlement giving them $1.28 million, saying that amount was insufficient.

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Chad Atkinson was born March 2, 1983, at PCMC. Two days later, he suffered permanent brain damage caused when he aspirated digestive material into his lungs, causing a lack of oxygen to his brain.

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