Physicians Ignore Worrisome Indications And Do Nothing To Prevent Child’s Erb’s Palsy Injury
A category of claim often encountered by a birth injury lawyer involves an Erb’s palsy injury. This is an injury to the group of nerves in the newborn’s shoulder which impact the shoulder, the arm and the hand. In some instances the baby will have to have surgery. Despite surgery, however, a number of infants will endure lifelong damage to the arm.
When evaluating these cases an erbs palsy attorney takes into account a number of issues. Among the issues is if the physician involved had data suggesting there may be difficulties in a vaginal delivery and took acceptable measures to eliminate them.
In a documented claim, for example, the baby’s mother had previously delivered two other children both of whom had been born large . The pregnant woman was recorded as being borderline for gestational diabetes in the fourth month of her pregnancy. She had disroportionate weight gain while in the pregnancy. The baby had been documented larger than anticipated at four months of pregnancy and to weigh in the 90th percentile. Her doctors scheduled her for induced vaginal labor in the fortieth week of pregnancy.
While in the hospital for the scheduled vaginal delivery a number of disconcerting indications were observed. Once the woman’s membranes ruptured, considerable amounts of meconium came out and later a monitor revealed early decelerations in the baby’s heart rate. These may be signs of fetal distress. Yet, the physician failed to attempt to test the pregnant woman one last time for gestational diabetes or to calculate the unborn child’s weight ahead of inducing her. The physician did not alter the plan and do a C-section.
Hospital files indicated that shoulder dystocia was found and that following delivery of the baby’s head, as opposed to using a routinely applied technique, the physician instead applied suprapubic pressure to help with delivery. The baby weighed ten pounds 10 ounces with a head circumference in the ninetieth percentile. The baby had Erb’s palsy. When she got older her arm atrophied due to her inability to use it. She has developmental delays and she has cerebral palsy. The law firm that handled the case reported that the case settled for $900,000.
The above should not be considered to be medical or legal advice. Check with a physician right away in case you think there is a problem with your pregnancy or your baby has a health issue. Consult a medical negligence attorney in the event you think your baby was damaged due to an error by a doctor or other wellness care professional.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 3:40 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.