Articles Posted in Birthing Injuries

According to the state’s highest court, the parents of Trista Bennett can sue St. Vincent’s Medical Center for Florida medical malpractice instead of going through a state fund for birthing injuries. The girl, now 10, sustained permanent brain damage after her delivery.

Bennett was delivered by C-section at the hospital after her mother was involved in a car accident. The infant had to be resuscitated after her birth. She later developed respiratory distress and was moved from the newborn nursery to the special care section. She then started to experience kidney problems and liver issues. On October 3, 2001, Bennett stopped breathing after suffering from a pulmonary hemorrhage.

In their Florida medical malpractice complaint, Tammy and Robert Bennett are accusing obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. William H. Long and the hospital of negligence. They believe their daughter was given too much intravenous fluid and that the hospital waited until it was too late to test her for serum electrolyte derangements.

The hospital had contended that the Florida medical malpractice case fell under the state’s Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan, which is a non-fault program that is supposed to cover the birth-related neurological injuries of newborns who did not get enough oxygen during labor, delivery, and resuscitation. The Bennetts, however, claimed that their daughter’s brain injury occurred after the “post-delivery period,” and they therefore can sue.

An administrative law judge sided with the Bennetts. The Florida First District Court of Appeal then reversed the ruling. Now, the Florida Supreme Court of Florida has overturned the appellate court’s ruling.

Brain-damaged girl’s parents can sue hospital and doctor, Florida court rules, American Medical News, August 1, 2011

Read the Florida Supreme Court’s Decision (PDF)

Related Web Resource:
The Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan

More Blog Posts:
Florida Woman that Delivered Baby into Toilet Sues Carrollwood Hospital for Medical Malpractice, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 7, 2008
West Palm Beach Parents that Gave Birth to Stillborn Twins Say They Will Sue Florida Hospital For Medical Malpractice, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 29, 2008
Palm Beach County Doctors Cite Fear of Medical Malpractice as a Reason for the Increase in C-Section Deliveries, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 15, 2008 Continue reading

A Florida woman that didn’t know she was pregnant and delivered her baby into the toilet in a restroom at the University Community Hospital in Carrollwood is suing the Tampa hospital for medical malpractice.

2 1/2 years ago, Robin Lumley arrived at the hospital complaining of vaginal bleeding and serious pains in her abdomen. Hospital staffers ordered tests, including a pregnancy test that was never performed, and her symptoms were documented. Lumley, who was 46 at the time and single, was reportedly never fully examined because she was in too much pain.

Hospital staffers allowed Lumley to go to the restroom, where she delivered a 6-pound baby into the toilet. The baby girl, Brianna Rose, almost drowned. She also went into respiratory arrest and sustained brain damage following her delivery. She will now require specialized medical care for life.

Lumley’s lawsuit contends that it was the hospital’s negligence in failing to detect that she was in labor that caused birthing injury to her baby. Lumley claims she did not know she was pregnant until her baby was born.

According to psychologists, women have been known to conceal their pregnancies even from themselves. Three kinds of pregnancy denials include:

• Pervasive denial
• Psychotic denial
• Affective denial

In the event that a doctor, nurse, or another health care provider fails to provide a mother in labor with the proper medical care and the mother or baby is injured as a result, the hospital and/or staffers can be held liable for Florida medical malpractice.

Woman didn’t know she was pregnant, gives birth — now hospital is sued, Sun-Sentinel.com, October 7, 2008
Characteristics of Women Who Deny or Conceal Pregnancy, Psychosomatics

Related Web Resources:

Medical Malpractice and Childbirth, WrongDiagnosis
American Pregnancy Association
University Community Hospital
Continue reading

At St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, tragedies struck two families earlier this month when similar medication mistakes led to one mother delivering stillborn twins and another baby being born born with brain damage. The hospital has admitted to the medication errors and has apologized to both families.

In the first incident,Sharee Davis checked into St. Mary’s on September 4 for a cerclage, which is a routine procedure that was supposed to prevent her from delivering her twins prematurely. She was just 17 weeks pregnant.

Instead, the medication the hospital gave her induced labor and Davis delivered stillborn twins, a boy and a girl. Davis and James Andrews, the boy’s father, say that they plan to sue St. Mary’s for medical malpractice.

In Palm Beach County, the rate of woman delivering their babies by cesarean section is now over 40%–almost twice as many women as the number of women giving birth by C-section 10 years ago. This figure is also a lot higher than the national figure of 31%. Now public health officials are wondering whether all of these women needed to give birth by C-section, a costly procedure that also comes with some risk.

Some local doctors say that the surgery is a safer option for them than the risk of a botched delivery that could lead to a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit. The majority of obstetricians in the county no longer have liability coverage because it is too expensive.

Other obstetricians said the reasons they might opt to perform a C-section birth rather than go with natural delivery included:

• Decreasing the risks of a complicated pregnancy.
• The increase in fertility treatments usually results in twin (or more) pregnancies; this usually requires a C-section delivery.
• More older women are getting pregnant.
• Often, doctors will perform a C-section on a woman if her previous birth(s) required this procedure.
• Teen pregnancies may require a C-section delivery.
• Pregnant women that are obese may require a C-section delivery.
• More women want to avoid labor and/or schedule the date of birth.

Some doctors worry that denying a request by a pregnant woman to perform a C-section could lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit if the baby is injured during natural delivery. In Martin County, where the majority of obstetricians are covered for malpractice, 15% less C-section procedures are performed than in Palm Beach County, Florida.

According to court information, the number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed against Palm Beach County obstetricians has dropped as the number of C-section procedures has increased. Although C-sections are now easier to recover from than they were two decades ago and they are generally designed to lower the risk of injury to the baby and mother, anesthesia and infection risks still exist. Having an earlier delivery by C-section can also affect the development of the baby and lead to feeding, breathing, and neurological problems for the infant.

Rise in C-sections stirs health worry, Palm Beach Post, August 23, 2008
Cesarean Fact Sheet, Childbirth.org

Related Web Resource:

Birthing Defensive Mechanism: Medical Malpractice and Cesarean Sections in the United States, AllAcademic.com Continue reading