Sandra and William E. Armstrong’s 12-year-old daughter will never learn of the Supreme Court’s deliberations Tuesday, though the results could change her life.
The young Taylorsville, N.C., resident is deaf and blind. She cannot sit, crawl, walk or converse. She’s the victim, her parents say, of negligence by the troubled doctor who delivered her.
She’s at the center of a high-level legal case that pits state governments against the Obama administration and afflicted families. What the high court ultimately decides, after the hourlong oral argument Tuesday, could shape how states stake claims on medical malpractice awards that Medicaid beneficiaries win.
“I think it’s a big accomplishment for our law firm, and for children everywhere,” Sandra Armstrong said of the case in a brief telephone interview. “I’ll be very relieved when it’s over.”