Physician Abdicates Treatment of Unborn Baby In Fetal Distress And Gets Sued For Medical Malpractice
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-12-27 21:30:15 | Word Count: 742
Fetal distress is a label that indicates that an unborn baby is in a compromised situation. A frequent kind of fetal distress arises when the unborn baby's supply of oxygen has been restricted in a way that may jeopardize the baby's health. This is referred to as hypoxia, a condition that can lead to brain damage and possibly death if the problem is not diagnosed immediately and either reversed or the baby is born (commonly through an emergency C-section). One possible sign of fetal distress is the existence of meconium (dark green fecal matter that usually is not present until the baby is born) in the amniotic fluid. A further possible indicator is a considerable decrease in the fetal heart rate (to below healthy levels). A fetal heart rate monitor can be used to track the baby's heart rate.
Take a look at the following case:
[ advertisement ]
An expectant mother went to the hospital for the planned delivery of her baby. The physician was not present when she arrived and therefore she was given an examination by a nurse. The nurse detected both the presence of meconium in the amniotic fluid in addition to abnormal readings from the fetal heart rate monitor. The heart rate tracings were not reassuring. The nurse called and advised the physician. Having received the information the doctor nonetheless decided to wait longer before going to the hospital. He did not ask that another doctor take over and simply has the nurse disconnect the fetal heart rate monitor, the one critical technology that could furnish information about the condition of the baby.
In all, the doctor did not report to the hospital for almost 7 hours. When the physician examined the woman the physician simply turned her care over to another physician to cover. Upon learning of the nurse's findings that doctor performed an emergency C-section. The damage had already taken place. The infant sustained brain damage. The child had experienced a lack of oxygen for too long and had suffered brain damage by the time the covering physician performed the C-section. Because of the brain damage, the child will experience permanent disabilities that include both mental as well as physical retardation, the use of a feeding tube, and a seizure disorder. The law firm that represented the family was able to report after the trial the jury awarded $7,200,000 (including interest).
As this case demonstrates there are times when physicians and nurses do not act with the urgency commensurate with the risk that some labor complications present. What occurred in the case discussed above is inexplicable. First, after being informed of several abnormal indications by the nurse the doctor did not just choose to delay going to the hospital but actually told the nurse to disconnect the monitor - the one source of critical information about the health of the unborn baby. It is almost as if the doctor did not want to be informed of further indications of complications.
The nurse might have notified another doctor of the situation. Rather, the nurse deferred to the doctor's rank and authority. After ultimately turning up at the hospital and seeing the expectant mother the doctor passed her care to a different doctor. Unfortunately, despite the fact that by all indications the other doctor acted appropriately, it was too late to prevent permanent injury to the newborn.
An unborn baby is at risk of significant and lifelong harm when doctors and nurses do not take immediate action in the face of indications of fetal distress. The lawsuit additionally shows that if this occurs these physicians and nurses may be held liable for not taking appropriate actions and thus not meeting the applicable standard of care. This is the level of professional responsibility to which we hold physicians and nurses. As soon as they fall short and their actions or lack of actions lead to harm to a child they may be liable under a medical malpractice claim. Due to the severity of the harm to the infant the compensation from such cases can be considerable.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting fetal distress cases. For additional information about fetal distress and other birth injury matters including group b strep visit the websites
