Failure to detect fetal growth restriction
A CHILD WAS DELIVERED BY AN OBGYN and a neonatologist. The child has CP with developmental delays and spastic quadriplegia. She requires constant care.
PARENTS’ CLAIM The child’s CP was caused by an hypoxic event that occurred 3 hours before delivery. The fetus was extremely small, which increased the susceptibility to hypoxic events. The ObGyn was negligent in failing to diagnose fetal growth restriction caused by placental insufficiency. The fetal monitor showed an abnormal heart rate during that 3-hour span. Fetal distress should have prompted action by the ObGyn; a cesarean delivery could have avoided the injury.
DEFENDANTS’ DEFENSE Prenatal tests, including ultrasonography, indicated that the fetus had grown appropriately. Fetal heart-rate monitors did not reveal problematic heart function. The child’s CP was due to chronic hypoxia that could not have been detected or prevented.
VERDICT A $6.5 million New York settlement was reached.
Emergency cesarean after fetal distress
AFTER A NORMAL PREGNANCY, an emergency cesarean delivery was performed when the fetal monitor indicated fetal distress. The child suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy resulting in permanent neurologic deficits.
PARENTS’ CLAIM The nurse failed to timely alert the physician of decelerations shown on the fetal heart-rate monitor. A cesarean should have been performed earlier.
DEFENDANT’S DEFENSE The cesarean was performed when fetal distress was evident.
VERDICT A Massachusetts defense verdict was returned.
Pelvic abscess after hysterectomy
A WOMAN UNDERWENT a total vaginal hysterectomy without prophylactic antibiotics. Six days after discharge, she went to the ED with fever, chills, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. She was given antibiotics and admitted after a CT scan and physical examination suggested an infection. At discharge 6 days later, antibiotics were not prescribed because she had been afebrile for over 48 hours. She continued to have abdominal distention, and returned to the hospital the next day with an ultrasound taken elsewhere that revealed a 9-cm pelvic abscess. She underwent bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and was discharged after 4 days, this time with antibiotics. She continued to have diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, and weight loss for a year.
PATIENT’S CLAIM Prophylactic antibiotics should have been prescribed prior to surgery, and continued when she left the hospital the first time.
DEFENDANTS’ DEFENSE The case was settled before trial.
VERDICT A confidential Utah settlement was reached.