Birth Injury Cases Provide For Huge Awards To Protect Patient Rights; Kingston, New York Medical Malpractice Attorney Discusses

Recently, two birth injury cases were resolved around the country. Both provided large awards to the plaintiff.

First, a jury held that a hospital’s negligence resulted in an infant’s brain damage and development of spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The jury awarded the infant’s mother 78.5 million dollars. In this case, while at the hospital the tests showed that the placenta lining was separating from the uterus, after a few other tests, the doctors concluded and informed the mother that her child was dead. Approximately two hours later the mother was informed that the reading was incorrect and her child was alive forcing the doctors to perform a C-section, however, the infant was severely brain damaged due to the two-hour delay.

The court further found out through the discovery process that the equipment the hospital used to make the determination that the child was dead had not been serviced in over ten years. This was a significant discovery because industry standards usually require that these machines be serviced each year. Due to all of these facts the jury found the hospital and doctors negligent. The $78.5 million award is to compensate the mother for her pain and suffering, current and future medical bills and the mental anguish she experienced.

The second lawsuit was settled providing for the payment of $25 million to the plaintiff. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that U.S. Navy doctors were negligent in the birth of their child causing their child to be born with permanent neurological and physical disabilities. The plaintiffs alleged that when they arrived at the San Diego military base to give birth to their child the doctor’s negligence caused the infant to suffer hypoxia and severe brain bleeding, this resulted in the child to now suffer from mental retardation and cerebral palsy. The child requires a feeding tube and a wheel chair. The government decided to settle the case granting the plaintiffs the $25 million.

These two cases show the magnitude of what can happen due to birth injury cases, not only in the amount of awards that could be awarded but the severe medical complications that can occur to an infant. If birth injury happens to you or someone you know please contact us because you need help to make sure that you and your child are fully protected for the future.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com . You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.