$4,500,000 Jury Award Against Paramedics Who Missed Signs Of Placental Abruption
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-09-03 15:01:51 | Word Count: 587
Many times, paramedics are the first to respond to medical emergencies. Paramedics are licensed health care providers who owe a duty to meet the standard of care to those they respond to and treat. Their ability to notice symptoms, to make quick and correct decisions whether to contact a physician for advice, whether to give medication or treat the person at the scene, and whether to move the person right away to a hospital, and even which hospital to choose, can literally make the difference between life and death. In what follows we analyze a lawsuit in which paramedics responded to a woman who had experienced a placental abruption at nearly full term of her pregnancy. The paramedics did not recognize the symptoms exhibited by the pregnant woman, including the fact that she was in shock from blood loss, and failed to take her at once to a hospital. In the time that lapsed the baby's oxygen supply was cut off because of the placental abruption.
The case claimed that the failure on the part of the paramedics to take immediate action resulted in a delay of at least eighteen minutes. During the eighteen minute period the expecting mother's unborn child suffered from hypoxia (the loss of necessary oxygen due to the placental abruption).. The child died only one day after being born. The woman required further surgery to stop the intense bleeding and she suffered from temporary kidney failure due to the loss of blood. The mother retained a law firm to pursue a lawsuit for malpractice resulting in the death of her baby.
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States have varying laws in situations concerning the death of an infant. In the State where this matter came about, for example, in order to be able to recover for the emotional harm suffered by the woman from the loss of her bathrobe for kids the law firm that handled the case had to show that the mother (1) suffered a physical injury that came about from the same negligence that caused the death of the baby and (2) that such physical injury to the mother would not have normally happened in a normal childbirth. Within 6 moths of the death of her baby's death the mother went into a profound depression. Even With a treatment regimen consisting of therapy and medication, the woman was still struggling with the depression at the time of the law firm's report. It is expected that she will have to stay on medication permanently. The mother met every condition.|All 3 requisites were met in this case.|With the injuries the woman herself endured due to the delay by the paramedics, she was able to pursue a claim.
The law firm that handled the case on her behalf reported that they took the case to trial and achieved a verdict of $4.5 million. Paramedics are health care providers. Paramedics are trained and they are licensed. They are expected to be able to recognize signs of emergency health issues and to take proper and timely action. If they do not and their actions fall short of the applicable standard of care, they may be liable.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting medical malpractice cases. For additional information about placental abruption and other birth injury matters including group b strep visit the websites
