Failure To Timely And Properly Treat Chorioamnionitis
Lawsuit Against St. John Hospital And Medical Center | August 1st, 2018 – County of Wayne, Michigan
On August 1, 2018, WVFK&N attorneys Keith Forman, Stephen Offutt, and Robert Lewis filed a medical malpractice claim on behalf of a minor who suffers from cerebral palsy.
According to the complaint, in July of 2013, the child’s mother began to experience “sharp, non-radiating lower abdominal pain,” which was localized in the right and left lower quadrants of her abdomen. The pain continued throughout the morning and an ambulance arrived and transported her to St. John Hospital and Medical Center. Shortly after her arrival, she was discharged without a diagnosis. A few hours after her discharge, she returned to the hospital again complaining of lower abdominal pain. She was eventually discharged approximately two days later with a diagnosis of false labor and urinary tract infection. Two days after this second discharge, the mother returned to the hospital a third time complaining of pain and uterine contractions. The child’s mother was hooked to a fetal heart rate monitor and was eventually treated for chorioamnionitis, which is intra-amniotic infection. The fetal heart rate tracing was non-reassuring for an extended period and the child was eventually delivered via caesarian section delivery. The delivery summary noted that the mother’s membranes had ruptured several days prior. The child was diagnosed with and suffers from cerebral palsy, hypertonia, cognitive deficits, developmental delays, and breathing issues.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants failed to properly and timely respond to the child’s condition and failed to timely and properly treat the child’s deteriorating clinical status. As a result, the child is developmentally delayed. As a direct and proximate result of the defendants’ negligence, the child suffers from permanent physical and mental impairments that she will never recover from, and which will require a lifetime of care and treatment.
The action is pending in the Circuit Court for the County of Wayne, Michigan.
