Birth Injuries
$5 million settlement for a newborn child who suffered brain damage during labor and delivery, resulting in severe cerebral palsy. The mother was pregnant with twins. The family doctor who undertook her care admitted her to a small community hospital to induce labor. He safely delivered the first twin. However, immediately following the delivery of the first twin, the second twin's umbilical cord prolapsed. Umbilical cord prolapse is an obstetric emergency that requires an emergency cesarean section. Hospital policy requires that a surgical team be present in the hospital at the time a mother laboring with twins is preparing for delivery. The family practitioner violated this policy and failed to have a surgical team assembled in the hospital. It took 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist and obstetrician to arrive at the hospital for the emergency cesarean section. The flow of oxygenated blood from the placenta to the fetus was interrupted due to umbilical cord compression. This resulted in profound cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The family practitioner and the anesthesiologist settled for the limits of their medical malpractice insurance coverage for a total of $5,000,000.
$3.75 Million Settlement for a child and his family. A child suffered severe cerebral palsy during childbirth. The mother, who was an insulin dependent diabetic, was concerned that the baby she was carrying was very large. An ultrasound examination of the fetus demonstrated that the baby's estimated fetal weight was in excess of ten pounds. The obstetrician ignored the extreme excessive fetal weight and recommended to the mother that she proceed with a vaginal delivery. During delivery, the baby's head delivered but the shoulders became stuck in the pelvis due to the excessive size of the fetus. The obstetrician was unable to successfully deliver the fetus vaginally, so he had to push the baby's head back in the vagina and perform an emergency cesarean section. The baby was stuck in the birth canal for fourteen minutes. After delivery, the baby was severely depressed, did not have a heart rate and was not breathing. The baby's heart was not beating for 22 minutes after the emergency cesarean section. Eventually, the neonatal resuscitation team successfully resuscitated the baby. Unfortunately, due to the amount of time the baby was without a heart rate, he suffered severe cerebral palsy.
$2.6 million settlement for a child who suffered cerebral palsy during her delivery. A 31 year-old mother was admitted to the hospital for induction of her labor. During labor, the electronic fetal monitor showed abnormalities, which indicated the baby was in "fetal distress." The nurses recognized the fetal distress on the monitor and notified the obstetrician. The obstetrician failed to respond to the fetal distress and allowed the labor to continue until the baby was delivered. The baby was profoundly depressed at birth and needed to be resuscitated in order to save its life. The baby suffered severe brain damage resulting in cerebral palsy as a result of lack of oxygen during labor.
$2.3 Million Settlement for a child and her family who suffered severe cerebral palsy due to the negligence of the hospital nursing staff and the obstetrician. A child's mother was admitted to the hospital for delivery of her baby. During the labor, the electronic fetal heart monitor strips demonstrated that the fetus was experiencing fetal distress. The nursing staff failed to recognize the fetal distress on the fetal heart monitor tracing. Eventually, the nursing staff called the obstetrician and conveyed some concern over the fetal heart monitor tracing. The obstetrician failed to come to the hospital in a timely manner. After approximately one hour and forty minutes of fetal distress, the fetal heart rate crashed. An emergency cesarean section was performed. Unfortunately, the cesarean section was not performed timely and the baby suffered severe cerebral palsy.
$1.1 million settlement for a child who suffered a brachial plexus injury at birth, resulting in Erb's Palsy. During the delivery, the patient encountered a shoulder dystocia, a shoulder that was lodged in the pelvis. The obstetrician failed to employ the standard maneuvers designed to relieve a shoulder dystocia and avoid injury to the brachial plexus nerves. The physician also applied excessive downward traction on the baby's head, which caused a stretch injury to the brachial plexus nerves, resulting in Erb's Palsy. Erb's Palsy describes paralysis of the child's upper arm.
$1 million verdict for a baby boy who suffered Erb's Palsy and Klumpke Palsy due to the physician's negligent management of a shoulder dystocia. The mother of the baby had gestational diabetes. Diabetic mothers typically deliver large babies. The obstetrician failed to discuss a cesarean section with the patient and instead attempted vaginal delivery. During delivery the 12 pound baby's shoulders became stuck behind the pubic bone. Once the obstetrician recognized the shoulder dystocia, he attempted the standard maneuvers which all failed due to the size of the baby. As a last resort, he applied excessive downward traction on the baby's head in order to dislodge the stuck shoulder. The excessive traction damaged the brachial plexus nerves resulting in Erb's and Klumpke Palsy. The child's arm was completely paralyzed.
$900,000 verdict for a 16 year-old girl who suffered a brachial plexus injury at birth. After the baby's head delivered, the obstetrician recognized that there was a shoulder dystocia. Instead of employing the standard maneuvers designed to relieve a shoulder dystocia, the physician only applied excessive downward traction on the baby's head in order to dislodge the impacted shoulder. The excessive traction resulted in injury to the brachial plexus nerves, resulting in Erb's Palsy.
$750,000 settlement for a four year-old boy who suffered a brachial plexus injury at birth resulting in Erb's Palsy. The obstetrician failed to order a glucose tolerance test during the mother's pregnancy to rule out gestational diabetes. The mother in fact had gestational diabetes that went undiagnosed and untreated. As a consequence, the mother delivered a very large baby. During the delivery, the shoulders became stuck behind the pubic bone. After the physician recognized the shoulder dystocia, he applied excessive downward traction on the baby's head thereby injuring the brachial plexus nerves, resulting in Erb's Palsy.
