Mar 25, 2010

Florida Firm Achieves $38.75 Million Verdict in Birth Injury Case

Orlando, FL - (March 15, 2010) Morgan & Morgan, a personal injury law firm based in Orlando Florida, achieved a $38,750,000 in a case of medical negligence in a case claiming failure to perform a timely C-section resulting in a birth injury to the infant.

Information provided by the press release: Delayed C-sections, in cases where the standard of care dictates that the operation be performed, are serious acts of medical negligence that can result in irreversible injury to the baby, such as cerebral palsy and serious brain damage.

Cerebral Palsy, like many other birth injuries, are avoidable. If an unborn baby is not receiving enough oxygen, an abnormal heart rate will appear. This is known as “fetal distress,” and should be monitored by the doctor and healthcare professionals who are delivering the baby. This is done during early labor and following each contraction in late labor, by using a fetal stethoscope to check the heart rate approximately every fifteen minutes.

Fetal distress can often be corrected using three possible methods: 1) The mother can be turned on her left side, which may help increase the baby’s heart rate. 2) The amount of intravenous fluids given to the mother can be increased. 3) The mother can be given more oxygen. In the event that all other measures fail to correct the baby’s abnormal heart rate, the doctor must attempt to deliver the baby as quickly as possible. This may be done through cesarean section, the use of forceps, or a vacuum extractor. In the situation that led to this lawsuit, the doctor did not perform the necessary C-section in a timely manner.