Multi Million Settlement Attained In Malpractice Claim Regarding Disabled Child
If an infant with a GBS infection is not treated or improperly treated the newborn might suffer lifelong severe harm
. A Group B Strep infection in a baby can develop into pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis. Given a newborns undeveloped immune system this can result in such long term disabilities as cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, brain damage, cognitive and motor retardation, or even to death. It is thus critical that physicians be able to quickly diagnose a newborn with signs of a Group B Strep infection and administer antibiotics right away.In this case a pregnant woman was screened for Group B Strep while she was in the 35th and 37th week of her pregnancy. The results of the screening were positive for the Group B Strep bacteria. As such, while she was in labor at the hospital she was appropriately given antibiotics. The expectant mother in this case brought her baby to a pediatrician 6 weeks after the baby's birth. The pediatrician found that the baby presented with a high fever. Regrettably, the doctor failed to look at any of the prenatal chart and thus did not figure out that the baby had previously been exposed to the bacteria.
Not being aware of this history, the physician ordered testing to determine the reason for the newborns symptoms. When the doctor waited for the results of the tests she ordered. She did not, however, give antibiotics for a GBS infection. The baby developed meningitis. The newborn also suffered a series of strokes. This left the newborn with mental retardation and an untreatable seizure disorder .
The mother sued the doctor for failing to diagnose the GBS infection and provide treatment in a timely fashion. As the claim progressed the physician admitted that she would not have delayed giving antibiotics if she had known about the mothers exposure to the bacteria during the pregnancy. The law firm that handled the matter published that the physician settled the lawsuit for $6,150,000.
There is a key point that this case brings out. When a newborn shows symptoms that might be due to a GBS infection a doctor needs to take immediate action in order to keep the infection from turning into sepsis, pneumonia or meningitis. Else, the consequences might be devastating. When, as in the case reviewed above, the physician acts as if it is not even a possibility, particularly when there is information in the mothers prenatal chart to suggest it might be, and the infant is seriously harmed by the delay in treatment, the doctor may be liable for malpractice.
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