Babies are delivered every single day here in New York. While this should be a joyous day, it can often turn into a disaster when preventable birth injuries occur. Luckily, legal action can be taken to hold the responsible parties liable for careless medical care that may have resulted in a birth injury.
After a two-week trial, an 11-year-old boy and his mother have been awarded a $14.5 settlement following an unfortunate birth injury. The mother was 36 at the time of her pregnancy. She apparently went into labor multiple times. Each time, she was put on bed rest and medication was provided to stop the labor. This was because she was not full-term.
Roughly one week after her last hospital visit, when her labor was stopped, her water broke. She was admitted, and it was determined that a Cesarean section would be best. Not too long after being admitted, she asked to have her baby. However, the residents on call and the nurse did not concur. Even when the attending obstetrician arrived a few hours later, he told her no because the baby appeared to be healthy.
A while later, the baby began showing signs of distress. The mother underwent an emergency C-section at about 9 p.m. The baby suffered a brain hemorrhage, which evidence in the trial showed to have happened after the attending OB said the baby appeared to be healthy.
The jury awarded the boy and his mother with monetary damages. These damages were for medical expenses, past economic losses, pain and suffering as well as future medical care expenses. These are all similar expenses that New York victims of a birth injury could seek in their own medical malpractice claim.
Source: cleveland.com, "Garfield Heights boy and mother awarded $14.5 million in malpractice case", Karen Farkas, June 13, 2014
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