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.)
Instead of attending to her patient as she had promised, defendant Brady kept her vacation plans at that time without properly transferring plaintiff’s care to another doctor. Plaintiff said she felt alone, frightened, and abandoned. During defendant Brady’s absence, plaintiff was examined by an on-call perinatologist covering at the hospital that weekend, Dr. Grady. Grady testified that he was asked by someone to see the patient, but that defendant Brady never conferred with him over the next three days.
Mercy Hospital’s attending perinatologist, Dr. Herman, saw plaintiff on October 22, 2004. Although defendant Brady was still plaintiff’s physician, plaintiffs said, she was not caring for or communicating with her patient. When Dr. Herman took over plaintiff’s care, he observed through vaginal ultrasound that defendant Brady had performed the cerclage improperly and had used the wrong procedure. The cerclage failed as a result. By the time plaintiff was informed about her true condition and Dr. Herman explained her options to receive an abdominal cerclage to try to rescue the babies, it was too late. Plaintiff’s lower, exposed twin (minor plaintiff #1) had developed IAIS-Intra-Amniotic Infection Syndrome, which set off a series of events. The option for an abdominal, rescue cerclage was no longer available. The infection necessitated a lengthy hospital stay, and ultimately, when it spread from twin #1 to the upper twin (minor plaintiff #2), the babies had to be delivered by Cesarean Section at 24 weeks gestation.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
The twins reportedly suffered massive complications, underwent dozens of surgeries and, at 2 3/4 years, have survived, but with a host of problems.
Plaintiffs alleged defendant was negligent in her medical care.
Defendant contended plaintiffs’ harm was caused by naturally occurring deficiencies in plaintiff’s body.
CLAIMED INJURIES
Plaintiff Wife: Weakening of her back and leg muscles; chronic pain; aggravation of pre-existing pelvic pain; post-traumatic stress disorder.
Minor plaintiff #1: Brain hemorrhage; eye; suppressed immune system; chronic lung disease; eating disorders.
Minor plaintiff #2: necrotizing enterocolitis requiring removal of portions of the large intestine; eye; cerebral cysts; staph infection; broken leg; eating disorders; autistic behaviors.
Plaintiff Husband: Loss of consortium.
SUMMARY:
Verdict/Judgment: Plaintiff
Verdict/Judgment Amount: $3,000,000
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.