Lawsuits Resulting From Doctors Not Responding Directly To Signs Of Complication In Pregnancy

As the time comes closer to childbirth a number of thoughts go through the future parent

. One thought stands out among all the others let my child be well. And to protect the health of their unborn baby parents put themselves and their baby under the care of medical professionals. Indeed, they are the professionals with the training, skill and experience to take care of any complications that might present themselves.

However , all too often some physicians, when confronted with information about the presence of signs of a likely serious complication, like a placental abruption, look as if either (1) ignore the information if it is provided to them by nurses or junior doctors or (2) be too busy with other matters to take notice and take appropriate action. And at these times nurses and junior physicians sometimes fail to seek out others who have the authority to take reasonable steps.

One type of serious complication is a placental abruption. A Placental abruption is a situation in which the placenta, which supplies nutrients and oxygen to the unborn baby, separates prematurely from the mothers uterus. As this happens blood vessels are torn and the ensuing blood loss can deny the baby of necessary oxygen and may cause the mother to go into shock.

Therefore, spotting that the expectant mother has had a placental abruption and taking proper steps immediately is essential. Unfortunately, doctors sometimes fail to recognize that a placental abruption is happening and so fail to take timely steps to protect the unborn child's wellbeing. The outcome may be a considerable injury to, or even the death of, the child. Consider what took place in a reported lawsuit in which a pregnant woman, at full term, was admitted to the hospital for labor and delivery of her baby.

The expectant mother was examined and then followed by a resident. The residents supervisor was a family practice physician. During this time, the resident determined that there were indications that the woman's unborn child was suffering from fetal distress. The resident advised the supervising doctor of this but the supervising physician dismissed the resident's concerns without as much as examining the woman or reading the output of the fetal heart rate monitor. Given that the supervising physician failed to respond to the signs of fetal distress, the resident then approached the obstetrician who was on-call at the hospital. Just like the supervising family practice doctor, the on-call obstetrician did not bother to personally check the woman and took no action. The monitor continued to show fetal distress.

The mother wound up having a placental abruption. At this point, unable to get the supervision doctor or the on-call obstetriciant, the resident took matters into his own hands and performed an emergency C-section even though the resident was not authorized to perform a C-section at the hospital. Unfortunately, with the deprivation of oxygen from the placental abruption the child had already suffered considerable hypoxic brain damage. The law firm that handled this matter documented that they achieved a settlement which included a Life Care Plan with a value of $20 Million for the child in addition to an additional confidential amount.

Clearly, the resident in this matter was concerned by the evidence. The resident notified both the supervising physician and the on-call obstetrician. Neither reacted. Perhaps they were distracted. Maybe they ignored the information given to them by a mere resident. As a result, the resident evidently was worried enough about the fetal distress to go forward with an emergency C-section, despite the fact that the resident did not have hospital privileges to do so.

This type of malfunction in procedure, can as in this case, lead to considerable harm to patients. Whatever the reason why the two board certified physicians decided not to act, the result was a medical malpractice lawsuit. Given the serious and permanent nature of the harm to the child it is evident that these types of lawsuits may have a sizeable value.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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