Doctors Pay Out $900,000 When Parents Claim Doctors Accountable For Infant's Erb’s Palsy Injury
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-08-22 11:42:52 | Word Count: 617
One of the more frequent types of birth injuries is an Erb’s palsy injury that affects the baby's shoulder and arm. This might be a serious injury that in the most serious instances may leave the infant with inadequate use of the arm even subsequent to surgery. In many instances the injury is avoidable. When this happens because of a mistake by a physician while in the delivery process the parents may be able to pursue a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and their child.
As an example, consider a reported claim regarding a woman expecting her third child. The woman was either borderline for or in fact had gestational diabetes, disproportionate weight gain during the pregnancy and had previously given birth two large babies. Approximately four months into the pregnancy the expectant mother's doctor recorded that the baby was larger than predicted by the gestational age and three months later the mother was borderline on her blood sugar test for gestational diabetes.
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An ultrasound after that visit placed the baby’s weight within the 90th percentile. During the expectant mother's final prenatal consultation the day prior to the scheduled delivery the doctor observed the fundal height (a measurement of the uterus employed to evaluate fetal growth and development) at forty three centimeters. The woman was forty weeks pregnant at the time.
The next day she was admitted at the hospital as planned. Once she was admitted, a different physician took over her care. The hospital cchart described the expectant mother's prior borderline sugar test and also that she was at high risk given her past “large gestational age” babies. This physician failed to, nevertheless, test her sugar level or try to estimate the unborn child's weight before medically inducing her.
Nearly four hours subsequent to her admission for the hospital her membranes spontaneously ruptured. When this happened a significant quantity of meconium was witnessed. This is frequently an indication that the baby is in difficulty and typically requires an emergency C-section. Roughly forty minutes after the doctor completed a vaginal examination. The physician recorded that the expectant mother was four centimeters dilated. The physician used a fetal scalp electrode which highlighted early decelerations. Although it was not recorded in the publication of the lawsuit, certain kinds of decelerations might be an indication of fetal distress. Shortly more than an hour later the woman was fully dilated. The nurse’s paperwork indicated the occurrence of shoulder dystocia, the delivery of the infant's head, and also the use of suprapubic pressure to aid the delivery.
The baby weighed 10 pounds 10 ounces at birth. The infant had a head circumference in the 90th percentile and she was diagnosed with Erb’s palsy. As she got older her arm atrophied from her inability to use it. She has developmental delays and she has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The doctors failed to monitor the mother for gestational diabetes but had ample information that the baby was large before birth. Still, they did not plan on a Caesarean and did not try a common procedure before using traction to the child's head. These steps may have prevented the child's injury. The parents initiated a medical malpractice claim against the doctors. The law firm that represented the family documented that the claim settled for $900,000.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an attorney accepting catastrophic injury matters. For more information about
erbs palsy and other birth injury matters including group b strep matters by visiting the websites
