1) Failure to
diagnose Preeclampsia: $5 Million in settlements!
Angela
Cecchi was pregnant with her first child and went to Northwestern Memorial
Physicians Group for her prenatal checkup in 2003. She was a known case of
Chronic hypertension and taking medication since very long.
Patient
showed signs of preeclampsia in her last trimester and was ordered 24-hour
urine test and USG to diagnose preeclampsia. But, although the tests were ordered
but never completed. She was discharged the next day after a doctor told her
that she does not have any signs of preeclampsia and cancelled the tests.
She came on
a follow-up visit after a week and still did not receive the tests. Two days
after her last visit she underwent an emergency cesarean section for fetal
distress after a nonreactive CTG.
Her son
Nicholas showed developmental delays and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, spastic
quadriplegia, and dystonia. He will be unable to walk, work, live independently
or enjoy a normal life.
Angela
Cecchi filed a lawsuit against the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group and
Scott D. Moses — the physician who provided medical care to Cecchi — were
negligent in their failure to obtain the 24-hour urine test and ultrasound
before she was discharged from the hospital in 2003.
She contested
the case on the basis that had the doctors been able to diagnose preeclampsia
earlier, resulting in immediate cesarean section preventing damage to Nicholas’s
brain. She also added that physicians also did not order non-stress test and
USG during the following week of her follow-up visit.
The case was
settled during a trial.
A $5,000,000
Illinois settlement was reached through mediation with the hospital physicians’
group and 2 Obstetricians.
Full
verdicts can be read at Chicago Daily
Law Bulletin article titled “Birth injury nets $5M in settlement.”
References:
2) Failure to
perform timely cesarean: $ 3 Million in Jury Verdict for brain damage.
Alice
Sodjago was scheduled for induction of labor (IOL) for post maturity at Piedmont Henry Hospital in May 2007. After the induction as planned, not
much progress was seen. As the CTG was reactive and USG showed that fetus was
doing well, she was discharged and was instructed to return after 4 days or
after increase in her contractions.
She returned
the following day with 2 cm dilatation and very strong contractions. CTG in
labor ward showed fetal distress. The labor room nurse called the midwife and
told her to call the obstetrician immediately for an emergency cesarean section.
Due to gap in communication the obstetrician was not called for 30 minutes and
even after he came he waited for 19 minutes to start the cesarean
section.
Baby
Joanna Sodjago was born in great distress, resuscitated with difficulty and was
left with cortical blindness, ADD (attention deficit disorder), impaired
cognitive development and motor skills all of which will make her life a great
challenge.
The case was
highly contested during trial.
The Jury ultimately, after hours of deliberation, came back
with an award for the Plaintiffs in the amount of $ 3 Million Dollars.
The message
sent by the jury was that if the doctor would have been called in time by the
nurse and midwife, the series of acts and events that ultimately led to baby
Joanna’s severe brain damage would not have happened.
References:
Medicinal misbehavior is an intense issue that can make individuals encounter genuine restorative issues that could have been effectively avoided. This happens in numerous genuine structures and sometimes involves something other than the specialist taking a shot at a patient. Medical Malpractice
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