New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

The case of a little boy who was born with brain damage as a result of medical negligence has just been settled for $8.5 million. The boy who is five years old still requires ongoing regular medical treatment due to his injuries. The settlement is supposed to cover medical costs as well as any future medical requirements that he will continue to need for the rest of his life.

There was no reason to be concerned about the pregnancy. It was thought to be a normal pregnancy and no extra precautions were taken. Standard preparations were made at the medical center explains the expert. However, at around 9 AM heart monitors around the mothers belly detected a very sharp decrease in the heart rate. Prior to this the heart rate was a very healthy 140 beats per minute. However, this suddenly dropped to just 60 beats per minute.

The nurse who noticed this continued to take more readings, stated the rep. However, she did not raise the alarm for about 30 minutes and instead chose to monitor the condition. After 30 minutes she finally did contact the on call obstetrician. It took around 20 minutes for him to arrive.

The doctor explains that the obstetrician did not take the lady straight in for the emergency C-section. Instead he continued to wait until around 11 AM. The actual C-section was very easy and it only took 4 minutes to take the baby out. The prosecution argues that if the C-section was performed earlier that the baby would not of suffered serious brain damage.

An expert witness who practices in The Bronx and Brooklyn was called to give evidence at the trial. The expert said that the injuries which have affected the child's whole life were avoidable. It's suspected that the low heart rate was caused by an obstructed umbilical cord. This restricted the amount of oxygen available which left the baby suffering from brain damage. The child still suffers from seizures, and is unable to see or walk unless he is assisted.

Continue reading "Birth Injury Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Settles for $8.5 Million" »

A stillborn baby, born at home, was the reason for a mother to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, commented the doctor. The mother has gone to hospital in April with a headache, lower abdominal pain and a fever. She remained in care for six days. In June she went back and said she was spotting. She was admitted to rule out her being in labor, as she was in the 32nd week of her pregnancy.

During her second admission, she received drugs to relax the uterine muscles and stop any premature labor and was hooked up to a fetal monitor, reported the source. She was given an antibiotic, diagnosed with cervicitis and sent home.

Two days later, she was admitted once again with the same complaints, was again given another drug to stop labor and was discharged against medical advice. Two more days went by and she returned to the hospital once again, where she was told she was not in labor and given another antibiotic for a possible urinary tract infection and send home.

The day after she was sent home with the latest round of drugs, she was admitted again and a midwife said she was not in labor and left. The mother went home, only to return in the morning and be given a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. There was no record of this visit in the plaintiff’s medical files, explained the official.

She was once again sent home and went into labor. However, the baby was born feet first with the head stuck in the birth canal. An EMS responder tried to resuscitate the baby but was unsuccessful and even though the baby went to the hospital, no signs of a pulse or respiration were detected.

At trial the plaintiff’s expert doctor said a breech born baby that is blue and has no pulse or respiration after about a half hour is considered to be stillborn, whether attempts were made to revive it or not. The jury found the hospital was negligent sending the mother home with Tylenol without evaluating her and that this was a substantial factor in the baby’s death. Hospitals in Brooklyn and Long Island have looked into this case.

Continue reading "A stillborn baby, born at home, was the reason for a mother to file a medical malpractice lawsuit" »

Birth injuries may happen either before, during or just after birth and typically tend to involve oxygen deprivation to the child’s brain. These kinds of birth injuries are usually referred to as hypoxic brain injuries and in most cases, the child’s life will never be normal. Depending on how severe the birth injury is, the child may require medical care for the rest of their lives and never know what living a normal life means, explained the source.

The parents in this case were expecting a normal delivery and weren’t anticipating any difficulties with their baby. They trusted their doctor to do the right thing. Unfortunately, while the doctor was trying to do the right thing, he made three egregious errors that forever changed the baby’s life. He burst the membranes in her head, didn’t resuscitate her properly and didn’t immediately order a C-section.

As a direct result of this doctor’s errors, the baby sustained a hypoxic brain injury and for the rest of her life she and her parents will deal with her inability to hear properly, her learning disabilities and her cerebral palsy, indicated the observer.

For anyone who suspects that their baby has sustained birth injuries, it’s advisable to contact a competent expert and find out what a med mal case involved. They are complicated, convoluted and take a fair length of time to settle or go to court. This is why time is of the essence in speaking to a knowledgeable med mal lawyer right away. If you don’t get your claim filed prior to the Statute of Limitations deadlines, then you will be barred from seeking compensation. This is also true in places like The Bronx and Brooklyn.

Continue reading "Birth injuries may happen either before, during or just after birth " »

In this case, the father of a brain damaged baby filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the attending doctor. In the original trial, the court found the doctor guilty of malpractice and granted a motion to set aside the damage award of $1,500,000, because it was not enough. A new trial was ordered to set damages.
On appeal, the court held there was plenty of evidence to show that the on call attending doctor didn’t properly supervise the treatment offered by his residents during the birth of the baby in this case. They further held his malpractice was substantial and the proximate cause of the baby’s severe brain damage, explained the New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Malpractice can take place anywhere like Brooklyn, New York and is likely to end in a similar award to the victim.
In handing down the court’s decision, the Supreme Court Appellate judges also fund that the damages awarded initially deviated substantially from what would be a reasonable damage award, in light of the extent of the baby’s brain damage. However, they also found that setting aside the verdict as a result of juror confusion and ambiguity was not the right thing to do.
When the plaintiff’s son was born, he sustained severe, life-altering brain damage as a direct result of the negligence of the attending physician present at the time of birth. The doctor did not pay attention to what his interns were doing and didn’t check the level of care provided to the mother in this case, reported the New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

Continue reading "Brain damage at birth severely harms baby" »