Parents File Suit, Allege Medical Malpractice, After Child is Born with Severe Brain Damage

In April, a California jury heard opening statements in a medical malpractice and birth injury lawsuit that alleged serious delays in performing a C-section delivery left a child with extensive and permanent brain damage. The plaintiff, the child’s mother, sued Emanate Health Foothill Presbyterian Hospital in 2018 on behalf of her son. She claimed her delivery in 2012 involved numerous unnecessary delays that violated the hospital’s own policies for emergency births. However, the defendant hospital claimed that the child suffered a brain injury before the mother’s arrival in the emergency room. They contend that their treatment was in keeping with the prevailing standard of care for the medical profession.

What happened?

According to the plaintiff, the mother and her husband arrived at Foothill Presbyterian’s emergency room late in the evening after the mother began experiencing contractions. Instead of being seen right away, they waited in the waiting area for roughly an hour before the mother was transferred to the labor and delivery department.

After arriving in the delivery department, hospital staff noticed that the baby had an elevated heartbeat, a potential sign of fetal distress. As a result, the mother’s OBGYN allegedly ordered an “emergency” C-section at 3 a.m. However, this claim was disputed by the defendant hospital in opening statements.

Foothill Presbyterian is a smaller community hospital. The plaintiffs contend that they did not have the full surgical team available to perform the required operation on-site at the time. The attorney for the plaintiff argued that despite the OBGYN’s orders and a hospital policy requiring the surgical team to be available for emergency C-sections within 30 minutes, the mother didn’t undergo the procedure until 3:55. By then, the baby’s heartbeat had allegedly slowed to dangerous levels and deprived his brain of oxygen. This, in turn, resulted in the baby suffering major brain damage. The plaintiff’s attorney argued that the actual delivery only took three minutes and had the crew been available to perform the procedure as late as 3:45 a.m., the baby could have made a significant recovery. The plaintiff also accused the hospital of failing to perform a post-delivery cooling procedure that could have further minimized the damage to the child’s brain.

The child is now completely disabled and will require extensive, 24-hour medical care for the rest of his life. An estimate for the child’s long-term care plan added up to roughly $45 million.

The hospital maintains that the child came into the emergency room with a brain injury. They argue that the neurological tests performed immediately after the child’s birth were not consistent with a recent, acute, hypoxic ischemic brain injury.

Talk to an Oakland, CA Medical Malpractice Attorney Today 

Venardi Zurada represents the interests of plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits filed against doctors and hospitals. If you have been injured due to the negligent practice of medicine, or lost a loved one due to medical malpractice, call our Oakland personal injury lawyers today to schedule a consultation and learn more about how we can help.

Source:

blog.cvn.com/jury-hears-openings-in-45m-childbirth-malpractice-trial-watch-gavel-to-gavel-via-cvn