Patient’s claim The hysterectomy was unnecessary and lacked informed consent. The physician said she had cancer and would die without the hysterectomy, but cancer was not found. A repeat D&C was warranted.
Doctor’s defense He stopped the original surgery because he didn’t want to perforate the bowel; he never told the patient she had cancer; and a simple hysterectomy cannot cause incontinence.
Verdict New York defense verdict.
FP, not OB, delivers severely injured child
A woman hospitalized at 38 weeks’ gestation—with high blood pressure and at risk for toxemia—was diagnosed with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). Fetal monitoring showed the fetus to be stable. The woman was given magnesium sulfate for the PIH, misoprostol and oxytocin to induce and augment labor, and an epidural. After decelerations were noted the following evening, amnioinfusion was ordered. Scalp stimulation 3 hours later yielded no response. Oxygen saturation of the fetus was normal. Oxytocin was increased, and the infant was delivered several hours later, but required 10 minutes of resuscitation before it began breathing. The diagnosis was severe hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy, and the child requires a ventilator and tube feeding.
Patient’s claim The family practice physician should have transferred care to an obstetrician, and a cesarean section should have been performed.
Doctor’s defense Not reported.
Verdict Mediated California settlement: $3.4 million from the hospital, $100,000 from the obstetrical group, and $1.5 million from an unidentified defendant.