subject: Mother Reaches $6,150,000 Settlement With Doctor For Not Immediately Treating Infant's Infection [print this page] When a baby with a GBS infection does not immediately receive antibiotics the results can be devastating. A Group B Strep infection in a baby can develop into pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis. Given a newborn's undeveloped immune system this can bring about such long term disabilities as cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, brain damage, cognitive and motor retardation. It can even bring about the death of the child. Below we consider a claim that came about after a baby who exhibited symptoms of a Group B Strep infection was not diagnosed right away by the doctor.
Look at a published malpractice claim where antibiotics for GBS were intravenously given to an expectant mother while she was in labor. This is normal procedure for women who were carriers of GBS during the pregnancy, a previous pregnancy, or when tested in the course of weeks thirty-fifth through thirty-seven of the current pregnancy. Her infant appeared healthy at birth. Bur, six weeks later the baby developed symptoms of infection and the baby's mother took the infant to a pediatrician who found that the child had a high temperature. The doctor, however, did not review the prenatal records even though she had access to them.
Without seeing the prenatal records the pediatrician just ordered testing so as to establish what was causing the baby's high fever. While the pediatrician waited for the results of the tests she ordered. She failed to, however, give antibiotics for a Group B Strep infection. The newborn developed meningitis. The baby also experienced a series of strokes. This left the baby with mental retardation and an untreatable seizure disorder .
The law firm that represented the mother and her baby got the pediatrician to disclose that she would have given antibiotics immediately if she had recognized that the infant had previous exposure to the group b streptococcus bacteria. The case was reported as settled by the law firm for the amount of $6.15 Million.
There is an important lesson that this claim brings out. If there is a possibility that symptoms can be due to a dangerous underlying cause, such as a group b streptococcus infection, that may produce permanent disabilities for the baby if not treated immediately a physician is expected to take them into account as a possibility unless the physician is able to rule them out as the cause. If the doctor does not take into account a group b strep infection as part of the differential diagnosis thereby delaying treatment with resulting tragic consequences the physician might be liable under a malpractice claim to recover for the damages suffered by the baby to protect the child's future.
