Lawsuit Alleging Holdup In Diagnosing Placental Abruption Led To Death Of Of Child Settles For $1,000,000
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-12-03 00:37:32 | Word Count: 863
Statistically, 27 out of every 1000 newborns suffer a birth injury. There are many problems that might happen during pregnancy and in the course of labor and delivery. Some of these problems may jeopardize the health and perhaps the life of the baby and the expectant mother. One such complication is a placental abruption. A placental abruption is a condition in which the placenta which holds the unborn baby separates from the mother's uterus prematurely. In the event that this occurs the blood vessels in the region rupture. The ensuing loss of blood produces a drop in the oxygen supply reaching the unborn baby. A lack of necessary amount of oxygen for an prolonged period of time may cause brain damage and can even lead to the death of the baby.
Simply because something goes wrong while a baby is being delivered and the baby endures a birth injury does not necessarily signify that a doctor or nurse committed malpractice that caused the injury. Medical malpractice focuses on those cases where the physician's or nurse's treatment did not satisfy the medical standard of care and caused the injury. Look at a documented case that concerned a placental abruption which led to brain damage to the baby. The mother and father sued for medical malpractice and the parties reached a settlement.
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In this case a nineteen year old expecting the birth of her first child was admitted to the hospital for labor and delivery. The expectant mother complained of persistent abdominal pain. She was examined by an obstetrics nurse who documented a hard abdomen and constant uterine contractions. A short time later, expectant mother starting having vaginal bleeding. The bleeding was heavy, and required continuous changing of towels to soak up the blood. The nurse failed to notify a doctor of any of her observations and instead showed the woman where the linen closet was and told her to get towels from the closet to soak up the blood on her own.
Four to five hours after her admission to the hospital, the expectant mother began having severe pain. Again, the nurse failed to notify a doctor. The nurse just simply administered pain medication to the woman, merely masking the pain. Within five minutes, the fetal heart rate monitor showed that the baby's heart rate went flat. The nurse, however, saw this as simply a reaction to the pain medication. The nurse again did not notify a doctor and did not make any attempt to wake the baby to make sure hypoxia was not involved. She finally alerted a doctor some 50 minutes after the baby's heart rate went flat.
When a doctor arrived, meconium was found and progressive deep decelerations of the baby's heart rate were noted. The attending obstetrician then also showed up and decided to perform an emergency C-section. No anesthesiologist was available at the time and so the doctor performed the C-section using only local anesthesia. The doctor saw that placental abruption had taken place. The doctor observed signs of resulting neurological damage to the newborn later verified by radiographic testing.
The baby was subsequently diagnosed with developmental and mental retardation. Due to his injuries the baby requires occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy, and will forever require life care. The child is expected to live into his 40's. The law firm that represented the family published that they were able to accomplish a settlement in the amount of $1.1 million. Of that amount, $60,000 was for the parents. The remainder, part of which was paid as a cash payment and the rest as a structured settlement, was for the child.
Analysis:
In this matter the nurse was responsible for monitoring the expectant mother's condition without a physician to supervise her. Recognizable signs of a placental abruption in a late-term pregnancy are severe abdominal or lower back pain and persistent vaginal bleeding. The nurse did not attempt to rectify the situation or even let a physician know that the woman exhibited both signs In addition the nurse failed to take immediate action when the tracings from the fetal heart rate monitor going flat. The first physician did nothing after observing the presence of meconium and the progressive deep decelerations of the baby's heart rate - both signs that the unborn baby was in extreme fetal distress. It was not until the arrival of the attending obstetrician that an emergency C-section was performed. By the time the baby was born brain damage had already occurred. The lack of responsiveness to indications of the problem that arose during the woman's labor formed the basis of the parent's claim of malpractice. The result: a settlement in the amount of $1,100,000.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting birth injury medical malpractice cases. You can learn more about placental abruption and other types of birth injuries including fetal distress matters by visiting the websites
