Memphis Birth Injury Attorneys Discuss Circumstances During Labor Which Can Lead to Cerebral Palsy

By Thomas Greer | December 19, 2014

The family of a Kentucky boy who was born with spastic quadriplegia, a severe and debilitating form of cerebral palsy, has been awarded eighteen million dollars in a lawsuit against the hospital where the child was born. The jury found that the hospital, through the actions of its staff, engaged in negligent conduct that ultimately caused the boy to develop spastic quadriplegia, a condition which will require lifelong care, monitoring, and accommodation.

The circumstances surrounding the birth of the plaintiff’s son were not all that unusual. Her pregnancy was normal and healthy, and her labor was induced by hospital staff. One major difference between the birth of her son and the birth of other children who are born without birth injuries after an induced labor is that the hospital staff who were attending to the plaintiff did not follow the orders that had been issued by the doctor who was overseeing her care.

The pace and intensity of a labor which occurs as the result of induction can be managed by hospital staff by increasing or decreasing the dosage of the labor inducing drug as needed. Management of the dosage of pain medication, such as that which is administered through an epidural, is also a part of helping a woman safely deliver a baby through induced labor. The doctor specified that the plaintiff should not have any more than four contractions per hour. This instruction was not followed by medical staff, and the plaintiff had more than four contractions per hour for six consecutive hours. When the medical staff disregarded an order from the doctor to reduce the plaintiff’s dosage of epidural pain medication because she was experiencing difficulty in pushing, the baby became stuck in the birth canal. While the baby was stuck, the amount of oxygen that was flowing to his brain was reduced, and he developed spastic quadriplegia.

In this case, the jury concluded that the medical staff had acted negligently in failing to carry out the orders that had been issued by the doctor. This is not something that any parent expects to happen during the birth of their child, and the result is tragic. The boy will require specialized medical care and monitoring for the rest of his life, and his family will have to spend a great deal of money to provide him with the care that he needs. When he becomes an adult, he may not be able to be employed, and he will continue to have substantial health care needs.

The costs that are likely to be associated with the plaintiff’s son’s birth injury throughout his lifetime account for a large portion of the award that the family received. It is estimated that if he lives to be sixty seven years old, nine million dollars would cover the costs that are associated with his lifelong medical care. Since he may be unable to be employed when he is an adult, he has been awarded a million and a half dollars’ worth of compensation for future lost wages. In birth injury cases, the family of the injured child experiences a great deal of pain and suffering. In this particular case, the boy’s family was awarded four and a half million dollars because of the pain and suffering that they have endured.

If your child was injured at birth, the knowledgeable Memphis birth injury attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC can help you. Call us today, at 901-680-9777 to schedule a time to discuss your case.

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