The jury found that both the doctor and the staff at the hospital failed to respond to signals indicating that the mother and the baby were both in distress. The jury assigned 90 percent blame to the doctor and 10 percent to the hospital. The plaintiff had settled with the hospital in a confidential agreement prior to this lawsuit, but the jury was still asked to determine how responsible the hospital was for the negligence which resulted in the son being born with cerebral palsy.
According to the suit, the mother was admitted to hospital the morning of May 2, 2001 and by the evening was showing signs of distress, indicating a Caesarean section would be required. Her doctor did not arrive at the hospital until early the next morning and the baby was delivered vaginally in the next hour.The son, who is now five years old, cannot walk or talk and suffers from seizures.
Meanwhile a Texas woman has filed a lawsuit against three doctors who participated in the delivery of her children. The woman was pregnant with quadruplets, but of the four infants only one survived and he now suffers from cerebral palsy.
According to the plaintiff, she was advised by her doctors to check into a hospital five and a half months before her due date because having quadruplets is considered a high risk pregnancy. She was having contractions as early as 18 weeks into the pregnancy but was advised by doctors and nurses that all four of the babies were healthy.
However, at 29 weeks the expectant mother started feeling severe pain. She says she told doctors and nurses that something was wrong, and nurses recorded that the mother was crying, moaning, screaming, and worried. The plaintiff says that the pain was excruciating and she begged the doctors to deliver the babies.
By day three of the severe pain, the plaintiff's condition was still worsening; she had trouble breathing and was not urinating enough. The babies' heart rates appeared okay to the nurses, but they still tried contacting doctors about the mother's condition. Finally, a doctor appeared, ordered some tests and rushed the woman into emergency surgery. It was only then that they discovered a tear in the woman's liver.
All of the babies were born without heartbeats but two were revived. Unfortunately, one of those two was brain dead and died six days after delivery. The final baby, a boy, now suffers from cerebral palsy and is legally blind.
The plaintiff is arguing that doctors and nurses failed to respond properly to her symptoms and delivered her babies too late which led to the deaths of three of the infants and her son, the only survivor, suffering from cerebral palsy.
Unfortunately, medical negligence and malpractice can cause cerebral palsy in newborn babies. Cerebral palsy is characterized by paralysis and seizures and may also include vision problems, delayed motor skills and mental retardation. It can be caused when the brain of an infant is damaged during birth, especially in situations in which medical staff fails to respond properly to fetal distress.
Cerebral palsy and birth injury costs can be expensive, including emergency surgery, treatment, and long-term care. It is also devastating for the family of the injured infant. If cerebral palsy is caused by negligence on the part of the medical staff, the parents may be entitled to compensation for emotional and psychological distress as well as to help with the emergency costs and long-term care for the infant.