Parents Reach Settlement with Provider Regarding Their Child’s Brain Injury at Birth

On the day of trial, moments before proceedings were scheduled to begin, the parents of a four-year-old girl who suffered a serious brain injury shortly after she was born reached a settlement with the hospital. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

According to a report by one local news source, the girl was born weighing a normal seven pounds nine ounces at one of the defendant’s hospitals. Shortly after she was born, she underwent an exchange transfusion to treat jaundice. However, during that procedure, air entered her bloodstream through an intravenous line. This resulted in a loss of blood and oxygen to the newborn’s brain, which caused severe brain damage.

The defendant admitted that negligence was involved, and the hospital’s negligence was what caused the girl’s brain damage. The case was set for trial to determine only the amount of damages that the provider would have to pay the family. However, the confidential settlement preempted the need for the trial.

Medical Procedures, Acceptable Risk, and Preventable Injuries
Almost every medical procedure comes with some level of risk that something could go wrong. Doctors must inform patients of all the risks associated with a procedure before a patient is able to give his or her informed consent to go ahead with the procedure. However, just because there are risks associated with a procedure and the patient accepts those risks does not mean that the medical provider is insulated from its own negligence.

Even when a patient agrees to undergo a procedure that has some risk associated with it, that patient may still have a case against a negligent doctor or hospital if the outcome was not one that is associated with the risks described to the patient.

In the case of birth injuries, it is known that there can be problems with delivery that can have adverse effects on the mother or child. However, there is also the possibility that an unskilled or negligent doctor contributed to the risk or worsened the condition. There is also the possibility that a doctor’s negligence resulted in a preventable injury to mother or child. In these cases, the family of the victim may wish to seek compensation for their injuries or losses.

Have You or Your Child Been Injured During the Birthing Process?

If you or your child was injured during the birthing process, and you believe that the injuries may have been caused by the physician’s or hospital’s negligence, you may be entitled to monetary compensation for your injuries or loss. Each year, thousands of parents leave the hospital with children who were severely injured during birth, and many of these injuries were preventable. If you would like to learn more about how the victims of medical malpractice during the birthing process can recover in a Maryland court of law, contact a dedicated personal injury attorney by clicking here, or by calling (410) 567-0800 to schedule a free initial consultation.