Child Permanently Injured in “Brutal and Excessively Traumatic” Delivery Recovers Large Jury Verdict
Earlier this month in Ireland, a 14-year-old girl, through her parents, recovered over five million Euros after suing the hospital and doctor that delivered her. According to one news account of the case, the settlement was approved by the nation’s high court and did not require the hospital or the doctor to admit any wrongdoing or negligence.
Evidently, back in 2001 when the girl’s mother was admitted to the hospital to have a C-section, the hospital staff administered the drug Syntometrine prior to birth. Most often, Syntometrine is administered after a child is born, since it is used to contract the uterus after childbirth. There is no medical purpose, the plaintiff alleged, to administer the drug prior to child birth.
The delivery was “brutal and excessively traumatic,” according to the girl’s lawyers. The mother told reporters that she felt as though she was being torn apart. Upon her birth, the girl suffered from severe disabilities. She is a quadriplegic, requires a feeding tube, and is practically blind. All of this was a result of the physician’s negligent administration of medication that caused her mother’s ovary to contract too early.
Birth Injury Suits in the United States
In the United States there are hundreds of serious, catastrophic birth injuries each year. Many of these injuries inflict life-long disabilities on the child, the mother, or both. In such cases, the family members of the victims may be able to seek monetary compensation for their injuries or, in the case of a fatal case of malpractice, for the loss of their loved one.
Of course, money is not a substitute for the life of a child. However, it is unfortunately one of the only ways for a loved one to seek justice after the loss of a child.
Establishing Malpractice in Birth Injury Suits
In order for a plaintiff to succeed in a birth injury lawsuit, he or she must establish that the attending physician was negligent in some way. This requires an expert to testify to the standard level of care that should have been provided by the defendant doctor. In other words, the lawsuit relies in part on a sort of comparison between what the defendant doctor did and what other doctors in the field would have done had they been in the same situation.
Have You Been Involved in a Birth Injury Case?
If you or a loved one has recently been involved in any kind of birth injury lawsuit, you may be entitled to monetary damages. Keep in mind, however, that these kinds of lawsuits are extremely technical and require the skills of a dedicated medical malpractice or birth injury lawyer. To learn more about medical malpractice and birth injury lawsuits, give one of the skilled attorneys at Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman a call at 410-998-3600 today to set up a free initial consultation. The dedicated attorneys at WVF know what it takes to bring a winning case for their clients and look forward to speaking with you about your case.
