Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a birth injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this birth injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)
INJURIES: Twin A died shortly after birth.
Facts:
The plaintiff wife, an architect in her early 30s, became pregnant with twins by way of in vitro fertilization, with the first trimester managed by a reproductive endocrinologist. Early in the second trimester, she transferred her care to a board-certified OB/GYN.
During the first office visit in March 2007, the doctor sought and received authorization from the wife’s medical group for cervical ultrasounds every two weeks to monitor cervical competency.
On March 23, the wife underwent an ultrasound, and her cervix was found to be unremarkable. She then underwent an additional ultrasound on April 9, since the March ultrasound suggested that there was an echogenic focus in Twin A’s heart. The cervical length was noted to be within the normal range.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
On May 3, the wife presented to a hospital due to pink discharge. The Fern test, which detects the leakage of amniotic fluid from the membranes surrounding the fetus during pregnancy, was negative. The wife was placed on a fetal monitor and contractions were noted every 7 to 13 minutes for 40-to-130 seconds. The wife was sent home later that evening.
On May 11, the wife presented to the doctor’s office for a scheduled visit at 22 weeks, 4 days gestation.
On May 16, the wife again presented to a hospital and was found to be in early labor. A cervical ultrasound indicated that the cervix was dilated and effaced. Labor could not be prevented and the wife delivered twins by way of Caesarean section on May 21 at 24 weeks gestation.
Twin A, a girl, died shortly after birth. Twin B, a boy, survived, but had retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), abnormal blood vessel development in the retina of the eye in a premature infant, and is legally blind.
The plaintiff wife and her husband, a landscape architect in his 30s, sued the OB-GYN for medical malpractice.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.