Birth Injury

March 31, 2014

$3 Million Settlement in Failure to Implement Adequate Oxygenation to Newborn

A settlement was reached in a case where a newborn, known as “Doe,” was born with a congenital condition in which part of her internal organs developed outside of her body.Right after her birth, Doe underwent a series of surgeries to place those organs inside her body. After one of the surgeries, Doe began having difficulty breathing. Her treating doctors placed her on a mechanical ventilator and cardiac machine and also gave her medications, all of which were not successful in returning her oxygen saturations to normal.

Doe then suffered cardiopulmonary arrest, which resulted in permanent brain damage. Doe died two years later.

Doe’s family sued the hospital and Doe’s treating physicians claiming that the defendants chose not to provide extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and also failed to timely transfer the child to another hospital. Use of ECMO, a heart and lung machine for babies that circulates blood outside the body, would have permitted Doe’s body to rest and recover, the lawsuit claimed.

March 3, 2014

Cook County Jury Finds No Connection with Baby’s Delivery and Quadriplegia

by Robert Kreisman

Matthew Chimis’s mother went into labor during the early morning of Oct. 26, 1997. She contacted her obstetrician, the defendant, Dr. Scott Pierce, who told her to go to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital; he said he would meet her there. Chimis was admitted to Gottlieb’s labor and delivery unit as a vaginal birth after Cesarean section patient and placed on a fetal heart monitor.

A few hours after Chimis arrived, the hospital staff paged Dr. Pierce twice, once at 3:30 a.m. and another time at 4 a.m. in order to advise him of his patient’s status. At 4:10 a.m., Dr. Pierce spoke to a nurse who reported a lack of progression of labor and that the fetal monitor showed tachycardia, which is a heart rate that is above the normal range for a fetus.

Dr. Pierce spoke with the mother on the phone and they both agreed she would wait for the doctor to come to the hospital to do a C-section since delivery was not imminent given the prolonged labor.

February 3, 2014

$4 Million Jury Verdict in Birth Injury Case Caused by Failure to Timely Perform Caesarean Section; McCarthy v. Karounos

by Robert Kreisman

The delivery of Erin McCarthy’s daughter was stalled for about 8 hours during labor. The obstetrician taking care of McCarthy was Dr. Garry Karounos, who attempted a forceps delivery.

During the forceps delivery attempt, the baby’s shoulder got stuck on the mom’s pelvic bone. Dr. Karounos applied various maneuvers to try to deliver the baby. However, the child was deprived of oxygen for 3 ½ minutes during the aborted delivery attempts and suffered hypoxia, deprivation of oxygen. The baby’s Apgar scores were zero at one and five minutes, which are signals of real trouble for the baby.

The child is now 4 years old and has mild cerebral palsy. The baby also struggles with balance issues and speech delay.

January 28, 2014

$1 Million Settlement After Excessive Traction Causes Shoulder Dystocia Injury at Birth

by Robert Kreisman

In this confidential settlement reached by the family of a newborn and obstetrician, the mother was to deliver her baby at 37 weeks gestation. The mom was admitted to the hospital to deliver the baby. During the second stage of labor, she experienced exhaustion while pushing. The treating obstetrician used a vacuum extractor in an effort to deliver the baby.

However, the child suffered severe shoulder dystocia. The obstetrician applied downward traction to deliver the baby, who was born with a left brachial plexus injury. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that responds from the spine to the shoulder, arm and hand. A brachial plexus injury takes place when those same nerves are stretched or in some cases torn. This can also happen when in childbirth the baby’s shoulder is pressed down forcefully while the head is pushed up and away from the shoulder.

The baby in this case is now 3 years old and can barely move her left arm even though she’s had surgery.

December 3, 2013

$3.9 Million Settlement Reached in Late Caesarean Section Causing Serious Birth Injuries

by Robert Kreisman

Throughout the pregnancy of Ms. Doe, she received prenatal care at a hospital’s clinic. She underwent ultrasound tests that showed that she had two gestational ages for her baby, each a week apart. During the third trimester, Ms. Doe was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and her treating physicians told her that she would be induced to deliver the child at 39-40 weeks.

At 40-41 weeks, her membranes ruptured and she was admitted to the hospital. Fetal heart tones were nonreassuring over the course of three hours. The nurses gave Ms. Doe fluids and oxygen and repositioned her.

Forty hours after she was first admitted to the hospital, she underwent an emergency Caesarean section. The baby was born in a depressed condition and required resuscitation, with Apgar scores of one at one minute and nine at five minutes.

October 24, 2013

Cook County Jury Sides with Doctors and Hospital in Infant’s Fatal Aspiration of Formula Case

by Robert Kreisman

Caden Glynn was born at 26 weeks, 5 days of gestation at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Ill. His early birth was attributed to his mother’s preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. The HELLP syndrome is an acronym for hemolysis, the breaking down of red blood cells, EL for elevated liver enzymes and LP for low platelet count.

HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication that is often a variant of preeclampsia.

Caden’s birth weight was only about 1 lb. 12 oz. After birth he was on a ventilator and feeding was started by a nasogastric tube. At 44 days, Caden was found to be suffering from necrotizing enterocolitis and was ordered by a treating neurologist to receive nothing by mouth.

October 23, 2013

Jury Sides With Doctor in Case of Newborn Who Suffered Meconium Aspiration at Birth

by Robert Kreisman

Isabella Calcagno was born on June 17, 2002. She was born with meconium aspiration at the University of Illinois Medical Center (UIC) in Chicago. She was in the hospital for three weeks while she was treated for meconium aspiration syndrome.

The defendant, Dr. Amrit Thandi, was a second-year resident at UIC’s family practice clinic. Dr. Thandi had followed the mother of Isabella during her prenatal course and was present during the child’s delivery.

Isabella’s parents alleged that Dr. Thandi was negligent in allowing the pregnancy to progress to 46 weeks gestation before delivering the baby. The defendant doctor argued that Isabella was born at 42 weeks gestation, that all prenatal visits with Dr. Thandi were reviewed by an attending physician who agreed with Thandi’s plan of care, the mother’s cervix was never ripe for induction of labor, the maternal/fetal medicine specialist saw Isabella’s mother on June 13, 2002 and did not recommend induction of labor. In addition, it was the defendant’s position that none of the attending physicians recommended induction of labor at any point during the prenatal course.

September 18, 2013

Brain Injured Child Caused by Late Cesarean Section Delivery; Parties Settle for $9.98 Million

by Robert Kreisman

Ms. Doe, 37, suffered from gestational diabetes. During Doe’s pregnancy, she experienced cramping and met with her obstetrician, Dr. Roe, who was covering for Ms. Doe’s regular obstetrician.

While at her appointment with Dr. Roe, an ultrasound revealed positive fetal breathing, tone and movement. However, a few days later, Ms. Doe returned to Dr. Roe complaining of decreased fetal movement. Dr. Roe performed a non-stress test and a biophysical profile and diagnosed a lack of fetal breathing. The obstetrician sent Ms. Doe immediately to the hospital.

Dr. Roe called a perinatologist and requested that Ms. Doe be evaluated when she arrived at the hospital. Dr. Roe also notified the hospital labor and delivery nurse that Ms. Doe would be arriving for further evaluation after a non-reactive stress test.

July 1, 2013

Two-Year Statute of Limitations Applies to Minors Under the Federal Tort Claims Act; Arteaga v. United States

by Robert Kreisman

The Seventh Circuit U.S. Circuit of Appeals has affirmed a decision by a federal court judge regarding the statute of limitations in Federal Tort Claims Act cases.

In this case, the plaintiff’s attorney did not inform the plaintiff that the two-year statute of limitations for claims filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act was not tolled because of the minority of the plaintiff.

Gabriela Arteaga gave birth to an 11-pound baby girl in July 2004 at the Erie Family Health Center. The baby’s shoulders became stuck, which led to the child’s birth injury. A few months after the birth, Arteaga received the medical records and consulted a lawyer. The first lawyer to review the case did not believe that the injury was caused by medical negligence.

June 11, 2013

Cook County Verdict for Doctor in Death of Delivery of Baby Girl

by Robert Kreisman

Disha Mookherjee was in her first pregnancy at age 30. She was seeing the defendant, OB/Gyn physician Elizabeth Nye, M.D., for her prenatal care. Disha was also a physician — a cardiology fellow at Rush University Medical Center. Because Dr. Nye had concerns regarding low amniotic fluid and abnormally slow fetal growth, Dr. Nye referred Disha to a specialist in maternal/fetal medicine. That doctor recommended induction of labor at 39 weeks gestation.

Dr. Nye followed this recommendation and at 39 weeks, Disha was admitted to Rush for induction on May 5, 2008.

Labor progressed slowly until it was complete. Disha began pushing at 4:45 p.m. on May 6, 2008. At 5:30 p.m., Dr. Nye used a vacuum extraction device in an attempt to facilitate delivery. There were three “pop-offs” (sudden detachment of the vacuum device from the baby’s head).