Malpractice Claim Involving Nurse’s Failure To Detect Placental Abruption Yields Settlement In Amount Of $1.1 Million
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-10-31 21:06:43 | Word Count: 593
A placental abruption is a complication in which the placenta that holds the baby detaches from the pregnant woman's uterus. This is a perilous problem which can put the unborn child at risk of serious damage and death if a doctor or nurse does not act right away. It is frequently accompanied by particular symptoms - the most telling of which are continual vaginal bleeding, extreme abdominal or back pain, and continuous contractions. Physicians thus usually recognize that if a placental abruption happens quick action, like an emergency C-section, may need to be taken to maintain the health of the baby.
An expectant mother arrived at the hospital in early phases of labor. She, who was only 19 years old, was admitted to the hospital complaining of persistent abdominal pain. The nurse who examined her documented that the woman's abdomen was hard and that she was experiencing contant uterine contrations.
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Not long after the young pregnant woman began having severe vaginal bleeding that. needed continuous replacing of towels to soak up the blood. Instead of alerting a hospital obstetrician the obstetrics nurse actually instructed the mother get more towels from the linen closet in the room and continue replacing them herself.
After about four to five hours following her admission to the hospital, the woman began having extreme pain. Now there were two symptoms that are highly suggestive of a placental abruption.Again, the obstetrics nurse failed to notify a doctor. Instead the nurse administered pain medication. Five minutes later, the baby's fetal heart monitor was flat. Yet, the nurse still did not notify a physician.The nurse interpreted this as a reaction to the drugs she had given the mother.. The nurse did not even attempt rule out a lack of oxygen to the baby as the reason and once again failed to notify a physician. It took an additional fifty minutes after that for the nurse to finally contact a physician.
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Once a doctor was notified the doctor found meconium and noted that the baby's heart rate showed progressive deep decelerations. The attending obstetrician then performed an emergency C-section. No anesthesiologist was available at the time and so the physician performed the C-section using only local anesthesia. During the procedure, the doctor noted that placental abruption had occurred. The doctor observed signs of ensuing neurological damage to the baby later confirmed by radiographic testing. The child was later diagnosed with developmental and mental retardation.
A malpractice claim was pursued on behalf of the parents and the child alleging that the injury to the child was avoidable had the nurse recognized that there was a serious complication in the pregnancy and notified a doctor of the situation. The child is expected to live only into his 40's. But, in an attempt to reduce the value of the case, the defense argued he would only have about 10 years. The child needs occupations therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy. The law firm representing the parents and the child, however, were able to successfully settle the claim for $1,100,000, with $60,000 being given to the parents and the remainder to the child.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting birth injury cases. You can learn more about placental abruption and other birth injury matters including erbs palsy and streptococcus meningitis matters visit the websites
