Late last month, a Georgia jury awarded $30.5 million to the family of a child who suffered a catastrophic brain injury while being delivered. The child’s mother presented to her OB-GYN for a regularly-scheduled visit at 35 weeks, where a non-stress test was performed and found to be non-reactive. A few days after that scheduled visit, the mother returned for an unscheduled visit with a chief complaint of reduced or absent fetal movement. A second non-stress test was again non-reactive and an ultrasound demonstrated possibility of reversal end diastolic blood flow, a severe condition that results from an increase in resistance to blood flow within the placenta.
The family’s attorneys contended that under the standard of acceptable medical care, this finding required an immediate delivery of the baby. Instead, the physician who was treating the mother sent her to the hospital for continued monitoring and for a consultation with a maternal fetal medicine doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. Due to a miscommunication, however, the consult with the specialist did not occur for an additional three hours. The baby was ultimately delivered by emergency cesarean section due to terminal bradycardia (significantly decreased heart rate). She suffered a severe hypoxic ischemic brain jury which resulted in development of spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, developmental delays and a seizure disorder. The attorneys for the family contended that there were several opportunities to deliver the distressed baby but those opportunities were missed by the treating physicians.
At Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin and White, our Maryland medical malpractice lawyers have decades of experience successfully litigating birth injury cases. If you or a loved one suffered this, or any other type of medical mistake, call Senior Partner Andrew G. Slutkin today for a free consultation at 410-385-2225.