Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

Our Chicago birth injury attorneys recently reard about a case in which a baby was still born and the mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital, alleging that the hospital staff’s negligence contributed to the baby's death. According to Mercury News, an autopsy was done shortly after the baby passed away and the autopsy found that the baby died of an amniotic fluid infection, which alone does not automatically point to hospital staff negligence. However, shortly after the still birth the hospital fired multiple nurses and required several other nurses to undergo additional training suggesting that the hospital new that there had been at least some negligence on their part. Additionally, following the stillbirth the California Department of Health cited the hospital for failure to follow necessary procedures and stated in their report that the hospital staff’s actions did contribute to the baby dying.

Some of the findings of the Department of Health were that the only nurse present during the epidural was not trained to read the fetal heart monitor, that when the heart monitor was not detecting a heart rate the doctor was not notified immediately, and that no other measures were taken to detect a heart rate when the monitor was not finding one. This evidence suggests that had the hospital properly monitored the mother and baby that they would have seen that the baby was in distress because of the infection and hopefully been able to save the baby.

The hospital responded to these findings by the Department of Health by claiming that they would implement measures to make sure that this type of terrible incident does not happen again, but also blamed the nurses for failing to follow the rules the hospital already had in place. Many of the nurses involved in the firings claim that the hospital fired people that were not even involved in order to show the state that they were reacting to what had happened. While it is important that any hospital where something like this happens to make changes, it is crucial that the changes are ones that will actually make sure that this will never happen again and not just fire people to make it look like they are taking action.

Unfortunately, many birth injuries are the result of hospital staff negligence and failure to take the appropriate measures that are required during birth. These procedures are in place to hopefully help quickly detect and fix any problem that could come up during child birth before it becomes a dangerous problem. There is a growing concern that when hospitals become overcrowded that patients may not always receive the care and attention necessary by the hospital staff because of how busy they are. However, terrible incidents such as this serve as a reminder to how important taking the time and following procedure is with each and every patient.

If you or a loved one have given birth and feel that the hospital did not take the necessary and proper precautions to insure that the baby was delivered safely, please contact our birth injury attorneys right away. Our Chicago based law firm has helped out clients all over Illinois with their birth injury lawsuits, and we have helped them receive compensation for all they have suffered through as a result of someone else’s negligent or careless actions.

A jury recently awarded $2.5 million to a grieving couple who lost their baby in a birth injury caused by doctors’ negligence.

The couple sued various obstetricians and gynecologists as well the practice where the expecting mother was treated. While obstetricians specialize in the management of pregnancy and labor, gynecologists specialize in the female reproductive system. Together, “ob/gyns” are trained to diagnosis and treat disorders and diseases in this field.

According to court documents, doctors discovered a complication during the mother’s pregnancy. Lab results revealed that the unborn baby had O-positive blood whereas the mother had Rh-negative blood. When this combination of blood types occurs, the baby’s O-positive blood is treated by the mother’s body as an intruder and the mother’s Rh-negative blood produces antibodies to fight the invading O-positive blood. The mother’s antibodies start to break down the fetus's red blood cells. This condition is called hemolytic disease or hemolytic anemia. It can become severe enough to cause serious illness, brain damage, or even death in the fetus or newborn.

According to the lawsuit, doctors failed to properly monitor and treat the mother and her baby after the complication was revealed. The unborn baby developed immune hydrops fetalis, a complication of Rh incompatibility. Although a cesarean section delivery was preformed, the baby did not survive. In addition, the mother will unlikely be able to deliver another viable fetus, according to the complaint.

The jury not only awarded the parents $2 million in compensatory damages but the jury also determined that the doctors should pay $500,000 in punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in similar conduct. They are usually awarded when the jury determines that the defendants acted with reckless disregard for the safety of others. Although punitive damages are not intended to compensate the plaintiff, the plaintiff usually receives the entire punitive damage award.

To learn more about this lawsuit and other birth injuries that went to trial, follow the links.

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A mother in Harris County, Texas has filed suit against the medical center that was caring for her pregnant daughter. In the lawsuit, the mother alleges that her daughter and her unborn grandbaby died as a result of the medical center’s negligence.

The pregnant woman was first sent to the medical center when she was about 37 weeks pregnant. Her Obstetrician/Gynecologist (OB/GYN) recommended that she go to the medical center because her blood pressure was high. The pregnant woman was soon discharged even though her blood pressure remained high.

A few days later, the pregnant woman returned to the medical center. This time, the pregnant woman was complaining of shortness of breath. She was immediately sent to the emergency room but she remained there for almost three hours without treatment. While she waited in the emergency room, she suffered a life ending cardiac arrest. Although doctors did remove the baby by cesarean-section, the baby did not survive. The baby had suffered from severe lack of oxygen before birth.

It was later discovered that the pregnant woman’s cardio-respiratory arrest was caused by pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). The lawsuit filed against the medical center further alleges that the emergency room physician failed to properly diagnosis the pregnant woman for this condition.

To read more about this story, please visit the Houston Chronicle.

Although the exact cause of pregnancy-induced hypertension is unknown, there are several risk factors. According to the American Pregnancy Association, first-time mothers, women carrying multiple babies, teenage mothers, and women who have high blood pressure prior to pregnancy are most at risk.

Continue reading "Mother files wrongful death lawsuit over preventable pregnancy complication" »

It is every parent’s worst fear for their child to suffer from a traumatic experience during the course of their life. Still, due to high levels of medical negligence during birth, some parent’s fears come to fruition all too soon. That was the case of one mother who gave birth at Norwich Obstetrics and Gynecological Group Inc. under the care of Dr. John Bodin. According to the Norwich Bulletin, Dr. Bodin was sanctioned by the Connecticut Department of Public Health after an investigation found he failed to monitor a woman in labor or intervene when nurses reported the unborn child was in distress. This failure led to the child suffering brain injury and a brain hemorrhage which subsequently led to the newborns untimely death only five weeks after his birth.

The mother, who has chosen to remain anonymous, claimed in a lawsuit against Dr. Bodin and the facility, that Dr. Bodin used an excessive amount of Pitocin, a drug used to stimulate contractions, and subsequently failed to recognize signs of fetal distress or to intervene by performing a timely Cesarean Section.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are unfortunately not uncommon. According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health an OB-GYN is sued an average of 2.7 times during his career. Lawsuits can be expensive to defend, costing as much as $200,000-$300,000 per lawsuit. These high costs, and the increasing costs in medical malpractice insurance are why Dr. Bodi claims to have closed his practice.

While Dr. Bodi acts as though he has been victimized into closing his facility, it is important to remember who the real victim is in this story. It is not Dr. Bodi who’s child was lost due to the negligence of another, and although Dr. Bodi may have had to close his facility because of the high costs of his insurance (which he claims to have been about $130,000 per doctor, and would have increased because of this now pending lawsuit), perhaps next time when a mother is suffering from similar symptoms as the mother in this case, Dr. Bodi will remember the consequences of performing his duty negligently.

CBS 6 Albany reports this month that a $5.2 settlement was ordered in a lawsuit brought on behalf of a mother’s death during childbirth that occurred as a result of medical malpractice. Doctors cut or tore the mother’s uterine arties during a Caesarean section delivery, and this resulted in the mother hemorrhaging in the operating room and losing about 60% of her blood volume. The doctors failed to take timely action, not addressing the mother’s continued internal bleeding or repair it in surgery until more than six hours had passed. By then it was too late and the mother bled to death. The doctors were additionally found negligent in not performing the mother’s Caesarean section delivery in the morning when the mother’s labor progressed irregularly, and in not recording the mother’s vital signs when the Caesarean section delivery was eventually performed.

Maternal death ratios have increased in the United States recent years, according to Amnesty International USA. In 1987 there were 6.6 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, but by 2006 that ratio had increased to 13.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. This ratio is greater than that of 40 other countries. Furthermore, birth injury complications affecting a mother’s health occur to 1.7 million women every year in this country. Amnesty International USA attributes these maternal risks in part to inadequate staffing and quality protocols and a lack of accountability and oversight.

As the lawsuit illustrates, medical malpractice can result in serious consequences such as the preventable death of a mother during childbirth. Filing a lawsuit might be the best route to take to hold the doctors liable when this occurs. Similar to the New York lawsuit, the Illinois birth injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti received a $7.62 million verdict on behalf of a mother who bled to death after her HMO doctor disregarded the mother’s complaints of postpartum bleeding. If you believe a similar preventable tragedy has occurred to your family, please contact our Chicago birth injury attorneys.

On July 5, 2005, a child suffered a serious birth injury. The birth injury was a result of a vacuum extraction performed by the doctor. The doctor did not inform the parents of the risk of this procedure and the doctor’s negligent act has led to a jury award of $1.85 million dollars. The child did not survive the birth injury. To read more about birth injury settlements, click here.

There are serious risks, both to the mother and her baby, when having a “natural birth” after having delivered an earlier child by c-section. The procedure, known as vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC, for short), has been shown to cause serious injuries. For instance, there is a risk of the mother suffering a uterine rupture, which can be fatal to both her and her baby. There is also a chance that the VBAC will cause the baby to suffer oxygen deprivation (or birth hypoxia), leading to brain damage and cerebral palsy. These risks are compounded by doctors’ errors such as hesitation to perform the delivery or delaying a c-section. Recognizing that the decision to proceed with a VBAC may cause these birth injuries, and potentially be grounds for pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit, many doctors are now refusing to perform them, opting instead for another c-section delivery.

Read more about the risks of VBACS, and the difficulties of finding doctors willing to perform them, in an article by Time Magazine.