Delayed Delivery Results In Birth Injury, Settlement Reached
On behalf of Lovett Law Firm posted in Brain Injury on Friday, February 14, 2014.
Reaching a settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit is often a bittersweet moment for many people here in Texas. Although the compensation plaintiffs receive can be used to help pay for medical costs and provide financial stability for a victim, plaintiffs also know that it can never reverse the medical mistake that led to the lawsuit in the first place.
This feeling is not exclusive to residents here in Texas though and is something that is shared by millions of people across the nation. Such may be the case right now for a family in California that recently agreed to a $4.1 million settlement in a birth injury case. According to the medical malpractice claim, a now 7-year-old boy suffered catastrophic injuries because doctors delayed his delivery. It’s because of this negligence that the boy was born with cerebral palsy that has left him unable to communicate, follow commands, and walk or crawl.
His great grandmother, who was his guardian ad litem in the case, says that he is completely dependent upon someone else for all daily activities and probably will be for the rest of his life. But as some of our readers may already realize, the compensation received in the settlement will help ensure that the boy receives this care for the rest of his life.
If doctors had paid attention to days worth of signs and symptoms that suggested that the mother had been in labor, the birth injuries the boy suffered could easily have been prevented. But because it is impossible to go back in time, many of our readers probably hope now that the hospital at least learns from its mistake and prevents such a tragedy from happening again to another family.
Source: Courthouse News, “Kaiser Agrees to Pay $4M on Birth Delay Claim,” Tish Kraft, Feb. 12, 2014