Medical Malpractice
Obstetrical Negligence $2,200,000
Injuries alleged: Infant brain damage
Court: New Hampshire Superior Court
Amount of settlement: A structured settlement with a present value of 2.2 million dollars. Guaranteed total payments in excess of 4 Million Dollars
Case Summary:
The plaintiff's mother, 15 years of age, gave birth to a 6 week premature but otherwise normal male child in a small community hospital at 3:23 a.m. in Southeastern New Hampshire. The infant was given good Apgar scores of 7 and 9, but the delivering obstetrician appreciated a need for some respiratory assistance, and ordered him placed in an isolette with oxygen. The obstetrician left the hospital without leaving further orders after visiting the infant at 4:00 a.m., de-spite the facts that the infant's respiratory rate was high; the 'attending' pediatrician was at home asleep; there were no other physicians on duty at the hospital throughout the night; and the nursery nurse left to care for the infant had been hired only one month earlier after a 17-year absence from active nursing duty.
During the ensuing hours, the infant developed severe Respiratory Distress Syndrome, characterized by rapid and grunting respirations, worsening cyanosis leading to two periods of apnea, and increasing flaccidity of muscle tone. The nursery nurse failed to recognize the importance or severity of the symptoms until 6:30 a.m., when she summoned the nursing supervisor, who telephoned the pediatrician at home. He, too, failed to appreciate the severity of the infant's condition; did not come to the hospital, only five minutes from his home, to evaluate or treat the infant; and merely instructed the nurses to increase the flow of oxygen into the isolette. The pediatrician first saw the plaintiff when he arrived at the hospital to make his normal rounds at 8:30 a.m., by which time the plaintiff's condition had deteriorated to the extent that a transfer by airplane to a regional medical center with a neonatal intensive care unit was arranged. Despite belatedly recognizing the need for this transfer, the pediatrician did not remain with the infant; failed to order a chest x-ray, blood gas studies or sodium bicarbonate; and failed to maintain his body temperature at a proper level. Most significantly, both the nurses and the doctor failed to administer oxygen by mask, which was available, in the face of ever-increasing evidence that the oxygen in the isolette was in-sufficient to meet the infant's bodily needs.
Plaintiff's six experts (two
neurologists, three pediatricians, and one nurse, three of whom
were the child's subsequent treating physicians) were prepared
to testify that the conduct of all defendants constituted a departure
from acceptable medical care, and led to an uncorrected hypoxic
state which in turn led to metabolic acidosis, an intraventricular
hemorrhage in the infant's brain, seizures and hydrocephalus
which in turn caused severe and permanent brain damage and cerebral
palsy.
At the time of the settlement,
the plaintiff was six years of age and unable to walk, crawl,
or make any volitional motor movements. He cannot talk and his
ability to hear and see are believed to be impaired. He needs
around-the--clock care, including daily physical therapy to mobilize
secretions and to prevent contractures of his muscles. His prognosis
for any improvement at all is nil, and a need for permanent institutionalization
is anticipated.
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