OB blames disability on mother’s language ... Did doctors miss signs of chorioamnionitis? ... “Postop gas, constipation led to divorce” ... Missed tubo-ovarian abscess leads to death ...more
NOTABLE JUDGMENTS AND SETTLEMENTS IN BRIEF
DOCTOR’S DEFENSE Two prior reparative procedures had already been performed by the time he operated. The patient suffered not from infection, but from a reaction to the mesh, a foreign body.
VERDICT Defense verdict.
Did doctors treat UTI properly?
An 18-year-old woman in her 28th week of gestation presented to the hospital reporting decreased fetal movement. Urinary tract infection was diagnosed after leukocytes were detected in the woman’s urine. She was prescribed a 3-day regimen of antibiotics and discharged. Ten days later, she returned to report 2 episodes of vaginal bleeding. After reassuring fetal monitoring, the woman was again discharged.
About 5 days later, the woman returned and was diagnosed with prolonged preterm rupture of membranes, with contractions at 4- to 5-minute intervals. The woman was monitored over 17 hours, and her contractions lessened in frequency. When the fetus showed signs of bradycardia, cesarean section was performed. The child was diagnosed with severe mental retardation, cortical blindness, and spastic quadriplegia. The child is confined to a wheelchair and requires constant medical care and rehabilitation.
PATIENT’S CLAIM The urinary tract infection was not treated properly, and eventually led to ruptured membranes. A cesarean section should have been performed sooner.
DOCTOR’S DEFENSE The urinary tract infection caused the infant’s problems.
VERDICT $5 million settlement.
One twin dies, the other is severely handicapped
A woman pregnant with twins, who was using a fetal monitoring service at home, reported to the hospital at 29 weeks’ gestation because she was experiencing contractions. She was seen by a physician who reported she was less than 2-cm dilated. She was transferred to another facility; upon arrival, she was 4-cm dilated, and was given tocolytics to delay labor.
One child was delivered with respiratory distress syndrome, intracranial hemorrhage, and hydrocephalus, and the other infant died. The surviving twin, who is now 17 years of age, suffers from cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia, cortical blindness, and severe mental retardation. She is confined to a wheelchair, requires a feeding tube, and will need lifelong care.
PATIENT’S CLAIM The physician at the initial facility failed to administer tocolytics in time to prevent premature delivery.
DOCTOR’S DEFENSE There were no signs of labor, and administering tocolytics would not have prevented premature labor.
VERDICT $3 million settlement.
Patient delivers after D&C
A woman reported to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain, bleeding, and fever. Testing revealed she was 4 to 5 weeks pregnant. An OB performed a D&C. She gave birth to an unwanted child 7 months later.
PATIENT’S CLAIM The physician failed to tell her she was still pregnant after the D&C and did not provide her with follow-up instructions.
DOCTOR’S DEFENSE The physician performed the D&C not to terminate the pregnancy but to treat pelvic inflammatory disease and to remove remnants from a previous septic miscarriage. Subsequent testing confirmed that products of conception consistent with a nonviable pregnancy had been removed. The physician also claimed the patient was advised to report back to his office in 1 to 2 weeks to seek care for her pregnancy. Initially, the patient claimed she never received instructions to report back to the office for care; however, during testimony, she admitted to receiving instructions but could not recall them.
VERDICT Defense verdict.
Retained placenta leads to hysterectomy
A 40-year-old woman, acting as a surrogate for her brother and sister-in-law, gave birth to twins. Six weeks later, she underwent a hysterectomy.
PATIENT’S CLAIM The obstetrician failed to completely remove the placenta after the cesarean section, resulting in the hysterectomy 6 weeks later.
DOCTOR’S DEFENSE The failure to remove all of the placenta was not negligent, and the woman had placenta increta, which made it difficult to completely remove the placental tissue.
VERDICT The hospital settled for $125,000; the jury awarded the plaintiff $1.2 million against the physician.
The cases in this column are selected by the editors of OBG Management from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts, with permission of the editor, Lewis Laska, Nashville, Tenn (www.verdictslaska.com).The available information about the cases is sometimes incomplete; pertinent details may be unavailable. Moreover, the cases may or may not have merit. Still, these cases represent types of clinical situations that may result in litigation and are meant to illustrate variation in verdicts and awards. Any illustrations are generic and do not represent a specific legal case.
