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: The mother claimed the plaintiff has developmental delays involving gross motor skills, fine motor skills, speech/language skills, cognition and adaptive/living skills.
Facts:
On July 13, 2004, the plaintiff was born with profound defects. Her mother, preceding the girl’s birth, consulted a physician for Accutane, due to acne. The plaintiff claimed that the drug’s manufacturer had protocols in place due to the association of the drug to severe birth defects, and that the physician failed to adhere to the protocols and failed to monitor the plaintiff’s mother while she was on the drug.
The plaintiff sued the physician for medical malpractice – failure to monitor.
Plaintiff’s counsel claimed that once the mother was prescribed Accutane, she should have been monitored and that the physician failed to monitor the mother’s use before or after she became pregnant. The plaintiff’s birth injuries were a direct result of her mother’s use of Accutane, according to counsel.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
The defense argued that the mother was well aware of the requirement not to become pregnant while using Accutane, and that the mother did not use two forms of birth control, as required by the protocols.
Plaintiff’s counsel claimed that the plaintiff will never be able to work and claimed a valuation of loss of earning capacity at $1,687,000. Counsel claimed that the plaintiff’s need for extensive and future medical care had not been valued at the time of the settlement.
SUMMARY:
RESULT: Settlement
Award Total: $1,000,000
The case resolved after plaintiff filed the lawsuit for the physician’s $1 million policy limits. The settlement includes any potential future wrongful death action.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.