Big awards in birth injury case

A family was recently awarded $31 million by a jury in a medical malpractice case in Ohio, but a settlement made during jury deliberations may negate that amount. The lawsuit filed against Miami Valley Hospital concerned a birth injury that resulted in permanent brain damage. Born in 2000, the child now has cerebal palsy and requires round-the-clock care. In fact, about $26 million of the $31 million award was earmarked for the child’s future medical care.

The child’s mother was considered high risk because she was a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean) patient. During labor, she suffered a ruptured uterus, which then resulted in a halt of oxygen flow to the baby. The plaintiffs’ lawyer estimates the baby was without oxygen for 18-20 minutes.

The lawsuit states the hospital staff was negligent in a number of ways, including a misuse of the labor-inducing drug Pitocin, as well as not communicating critical medical information to the attending doctor.

This was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 and is filed in the Legal, Patient Care categories.