Birth Injury Due to Failure to Timely Deliver
Lawsuit Against Columbia Medical Center of Arlington | September 18, 2020
On September 18, 2020, WVFK&N attorneys Mary Koch and Robert Lewis filed a medical malpractice claim on behalf of a minor child who suffered a brain injury due to a failure to deliver in the face of non-reassuring fetal heart rate tracings.
The complaint alleges that on September 2, 2018 at 10:43 a.m., the child’s mother presented to Medical City Arlington Obstetric Emergency Department with complaints of decreased fetal movement and possible labor at 38 weeks and 3 days’ gestation. Electronic fetal monitoring (“EFM”) was connected at 10:55 a.m. Over the next several hours, the EFM demonstrated minimal variability and decelerations, which are non-reassuring signs of fetal distress and fetal asphyxia for several hours. During this time period, no intrauterine resuscitative measures were administered to improve fetal oxygenation, despite the fact that the fetal heart rate tracings remained ominous. At 12:40 p.m., the child’s mother was admitted to the labor and delivery department. At 12:46 p.m., the order was given for a cesarean section delivery. The child was born at 12:53 p.m. on September 2, 2018. The child’s initial Apgar scores were o, 2, 6, and 8 at one, five, ten, and fifteen minutes. The child was floppy and had no heart rate at birth. The child’s cord blood gas results revealed metabolic acidosis with a pH of 6.6 and a base excess of -29. An MRI on September 14, 2018 revealed catastrophic findings consistent with hypoxic-ischemic changes, including significant damage to the basal ganglia, thalamus, corpus callosum, and the white matter of the brain. The child suffered recurrent seizure activity as well. The child was discharged from the hospital after being in the NICU for over twenty days with a diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
The child’s injuries were a result of the negligence of Midtown Medical Center and its employees. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants failed to order an earlier cesarean section delivery in the face of non-reassuring fetal heart rate tracings. The child will require significant medical care and treatment for the rest of his life.
The action is pending in the District Court of Tarrant County, Texas.
