Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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At three different obstetrics appointments during the 37th and 38th week of pregnancy, Ms. Doe’s blood pressure readings showed hypertension. When she returned for another appointment toward the end of her 38th week, she had severe hypertension and decreased fetal movement.

Ms. Doe was sent to a hospital where the fetal heart monitor showed the fetal heart rate of 140 beats per minute, minimal to absent variability, and late decelerations.

The attending obstetrician ordered diagnostic testing and then attended to another patient. By the time Ms. Doe underwent a Cesarean section about two hours later, the fetal heart rate had dropped to zero.
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Ms. Doe, 34, was admitted to a hospital experiencing signs and symptoms of placental abruption and preeclampsia. Although the fetal heart monitor allegedly revealed signs of fetal distress, no action was taken promptly to deliver her baby. Unfortunately, the baby died later in Ms. Doe’s womb. That night, Ms. Doe experienced hypertension and later developed HELLP Syndrome.

HELLP Syndrome is a serious complication of high blood pressure during pregnancy. The acronym HELLP stands for hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count. HELLP Syndrome usually develops before the 37th week of pregnancy but can occur shortly after delivery. Many women are diagnosed with preeclampsia beforehand. Symptoms include nausea, headache, belly pain and swelling.

In the case of Ms. Doe, the baby was subsequently delivered and the mother suffered a stroke. Ms. Doe now experiences balance, cognitive and physical issues and cannot return to her job where she earned approximately $32,000 per year.
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Clara Roman was born prematurely. Several months after her delivery, she was admitted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center to undergo repair of an inguinal hernia.

A week after the surgery, Clara’s parents returned her to the hospital for treatment of a recurrent bulge. The anesthesiologist, Dr. William Rahal, intubated Clara in preparation for emergency surgery. That surgery was later canceled.

While still under the anesthesiologist’s care, Clara suffered oxygen deprivation, which resulted in a severe brain injury.
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During delivery at a hospital, newborn Destiny Coleman suffered a brachial plexus injury.

The baby’s mother, individually and as her guardian, filed a lawsuit against the estate of Dr. Robert Lipari, the obstetrician who delivered her. He is now deceased. The lawsuit alleged obstetrics medical negligence.

The defense argued that the baby’s injuries resulted from maternal forces of labor, contractions, and maternal pushing, not mishandling the labor and delivery. The plaintiff maintained that that was the cause of the brachial plexus injury and was a result of the doctor’s negligence.
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Julien Florez was born on March 22, 2009. His mother, Aimee Florez, was admitted to Evanston Hospital just after noon that day, five days after her due date. All tests and ultrasounds registered normal. After a procedure to break her water, Julien experienced a prolonged deceleration in fetal heart rate after his mother was given an epidural. Pitocin was administered by a second doctor to accelerate labor, and when Julien’s heart rate decelerated, a C-section was ordered.

Julien was delivered by C-section with an Apgar score of 1 out of 10, blue, and with an abnormally low heart rate requiring intervention due to lack of blood to the brain. Body cooling was initiated to slow or prevent additional brain damage. Within five hours of birth, Julien showed signs of seizures.

Julien, represented by his parents, Aimee and David Florez, filed a lawsuit. Julien suffered from cerebral palsy. At age 9, he exhibited global delays, significant speech and language deficit, requiring assistance eating, dressing and with hygiene as well as 24-hour supervision.
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The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District vacated the decision of a Cook County Circuit Court and a jury verdict.

Marilyn Perez began treatment with a fertility specialist in September 2011. On Aug. 11, 2012, she went into St. Alexius Medical Center emergency room with pelvic pain, and she received a CT scan and ultrasound.

Dr. Gregory Gullo reviewed the CT scan and identified a teratoma on her left ovary. Dr. Jeffrey Chung reviewed the ultrasound and reported finding no mass.
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A Washington State Appellate Court held that a trial court had not abused its discretion in allowing a juror with a connection to the defendant doctor to serve on a jury in a medical malpractice case.

In this case, a child and his parents sued the obstetrician, Dr. Kevin Harrington, alleging his negligence during the child’s delivery, which led to his brachial plexus nerve injury.

The family of the child sought to exclude various prospective jurors for cause, claiming they had a child delivered by the defendant physician, including Juror 25. Although the court excused several of the jurors, Juror 25 ultimately served in a jury, which returned a verdict for the defendant physician. The family of the child appealed from this verdict.
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When Yong Juan Zhao gave birth to her son “S.,” the baby suffered an avoidable brachial plexus injury, which severely and permanently impaired the function of his right arm. During her pregnancy and S.’s birth, Zhao was attended by an obstetrician employed by a federally supported grant clinic in southern Illinois; the doctor was considered an employee of the U.S. Public Health Service under 42 U.S.C. 233(g).

Zhao sued for medical malpractice under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The court found that the obstetrician had been negligent and signed a judgment awarding Zhao, on behalf of S., $2.6 million in lost earnings and $5.5 million in noneconomic damages.

S. was 5 years old at the time of the trial.
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Ms. Doe was pregnant with twins; they shared a placenta but had their own amniotic sacs. During her pregnancy, one of the twins, Twin B, had an abnormal velamentous cord insertion and exhibited persistent absent end-diastolic flow, which indicated underlying fetal vascular stress. Velamentous cord insertion is a complication of pregnancy in which the umbilical cord is inserted in the fetal membranes. In a normal pregnancy, the umbilical cord inserts into the middle of the placenta and is surrounded by the amniotic sac.

At 24 weeks, a Doppler ultrasound revealed reverse end-diastolic flow (REDF) in Twin B’s umbilical artery. Reversal of the umbilical artery end-diastolic flow or velocity can be an ominous sign when detected after 16 weeks of pregnancy. In extreme situations, such as severe intrauterine growth restriction, the arterial blood flow can reverse directions at the end of diastole. This is referred to as a reversed end-diastolic flow.

When this condition was recognized, Ms. Doe’s treating maternal-fetal medicine specialist did not hospitalize her but continued seeing her every week until 27 weeks gestation. Two weeks later, Twin B died.
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Ms. Doe, who had a history of preeclampsia, was admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital to deliver her baby. She was administered Pitocin but was discontinued on order by one obstetrician before another doctor restarted it.

Despite all of this, Ms. Doe’s labor failed to progress, and the fetal monitor showed persistent variable decelerations.

Ms. Doe’s baby, a son, was subsequently born in a depressed condition, with Apgar scores of 0 at one minute and 1 at five minutes.
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