subject: Jury Awards Family Of Infant With Brain Damage $31,000,000 In Medical Malpractice Lawsuit [print this page] A scheduled vaginal childbirth for a pregnant woman who has previously had a C-section ought to take into account that this places the patient at risk of a ruptured uterus. In these cases the unborn babys essential oxygen , which is obtained via the placenta, can be cut off. Depending on the extent and the length of time involved the child may sustain a brain injury which exhibits serious cognitive and neurological problems. It is therefore essential when considering a vaginal delivery for a woman with a previous C-section (known as a VBAC) to consider this risk into consideration.
Examine a recently documented lawsuit involving an expectant mother who was admitted to the hospital for a planned natural delivery of her baby. She underwent a C-section in an earlier pregnancy. Still, the nurse gave her a drug commonly used to induce labor. The use of this drug , however, should be carefully followed seeing that it turn into a serious problem especially at greater dosages. The nurse failed to convey to the physician that the expectant mother developed an unusual pattern of contraction. Rather, even though the contractions increased to obviously dangerous levels, she kept administering more of the drug.
The expectant mother suffered a uterine rupture. The unborn child was in fetal distress. The child was deprived of oxygen for 18-20 minutes as a consequence of which he sustained a brain injury. He has severe cerebral palsy. He is unable to walk or to talk. He is unable to hold anything in his hands. He is unable to eat without the use of a feeding tube. He can, however, recognize members of his family and is alert. But he will need full-time life assistance. The law firm that represented the family revealed that the claim went to trial and the jury came back with a verdict of $31 Million. This sum included $26,000,000 to cover future medical care.
As this case illustrates nurses and hospital staff need to determine if complications arise during a pregnancy. They also need to know and understand the effects and danger signs of the drugs they dispense, and let the physician in charge know of any signs that indicate there is a difficulty happening. Whether due to a lack of training, inexperience, overwork, or communication breakdowns, a failure in any (or as in this case all) of these areas can lead to devastating injuries to the baby. When this happens the family (both on their own behalf and on behalf of the baby) might be able to bring a lawsuit for malpractice. As this matter also reveals - such cases, due to the type and degree of the injury to the child, can lead to a significant recovery.
