$11.35 Million Jury Verdict for the Brain Injury Suffered by Newborn Alleged to Have Been Caused by Negligent Forceps at Delivery

In this lawsuit, the mother identified as Ms. Doe was admitted to a hospital to deliver her first child. Although the labor and delivery were prolonged, the treating obstetrician, Dr. Laura Fortner, advised Doe to keep pushing for another 30 minutes.

The obstetrician returned an hour later and used forceps and a vacuum extractor to deliver the baby who had become stuck in Doe’s birth canal. The baby’s Apgar scores were one at one minute and five at five minutes, requiring resuscitation.

The child, now age 16, has been diagnosed as having suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which affects his cognitive, social and fine motor skills.

Doe and her husband filed a lawsuit against Dr. Fortner and her practice alleging that she chose not to respond to changes in the fetal heart rate, chose not to diagnose cephalopelvic disproportion that warranted a cesarean delivery, and failed to obtain informed consent for the ongoing vaginal delivery.

The Doe family maintained that testing performed before the baby’s second birthday confirmed the presence of an older, watershed pattern of injury and damage to both sides of the brain, which, the plaintiffs asserted, resulted from a prolonged fetal distress and traumatic delivery.

The jury’s verdict in favor of the Doe family was $11,350,000.

The attorneys successfully handling this tragic case were David Skall and Michael Becker.

Doe v. Fortner, No. CV-2016-07-2898 (Ohio Ct. Com. Pl. Summit County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling labor and delivery malpractice cases, medical negligence lawsuits, birth trauma injury cases, brain injury lawsuits and obstetrician negligence lawsuits for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Barrington, Bellwood, Calumet City, Deerfield, Flossmoor, Gurnee, Lisle, Maywood, Northfield, Winnetka, Chicago (Printer’s Row, Near East Side, West Town, Noble Square, Fulton River District, Greek Town, Bridgeport, McKinley Park, Fuller Park, Woodlawn, Englewood, Washington Park, Jackson Park, Jackson Park Highlands, Greater Grand Crossing, Stoney Island Park, Pill Hill, Calumet Heights, Stony Island, Cottage Grove Heights, Pullman, Trumbull Park, Jeffrey Manor, West Roseland), Alsip, Merrionette Park, Chicago Ridge, Palos Heights, Hickory Hills and Burr Ridge, Ill.