According to the Wichita Times Record News, a woman who was being held on drug charges in a county jail in Texas has filed a lawsuit after she delivered a baby who died while she was in solitary confinement.
The newspaper reported that Nicole Guerrero is suing Wichita County, Sheriff David Duke, Correctional Healthcare Management, Inc. and Ladonna Anderson for breaching the duty of care owed to her, and for medical malpractice.
Guerrero was being held in the Wichita County Jail in 2012 on a drug possession charge and was pregnant at the time. On June 11, she reportedly went to a doctor and was told the child had no complications. She was prescribed a medication and supplement by the doctor.
The same day she allegedly began experiencing labor symptoms. However, Anderson, who listened to the baby’s heartbeat, sent her back to her cell. Later, her symptoms intensified.
“Recognizing that something was wrong, Plaintiff pushed the medical emergency button, seeking assistance for her worsening condition. Plaintiff continued to push the medical emergency button, but her requests for help were ignored until 3:30 a.m.,” the lawsuit said, according to the Times Record News.
In her lawsuit, Guerrero claimed that she was then taken to the nursing station, but she was not examined, and Anderson told her the complications were probably from the prescription medication she was given by the doctor.
Guerrero was then placed in a cell and left for several hours, where Anderson told her that she contacted a doctor who allegedly said she was “fine”.
Later, Guerrero alleges that she could feel the baby’s head starting to emerge and a detention officer walking by helped her deliver her daughter, who was “dark purple, and had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.”
After the baby was delivered, in her lawsuit, Guerrero claims that Anderson patted the baby on the back until medical officials arrived 20 minutes later. Emergency officials then took the baby to a hospital where it was pronounced dead.
The Times Record News reported that Anderson’s registered nursing license expired January 31, 2012.
My Child Died Because of Medical Malpractice. Can I Sue?
This case is a horrific reminder that staffing plays a significant role in the birthing process and that a child could die because it did not receive adequate care during a delivery.
Birth injuries resulting from inadequate or negligent healthcare can include deformities, brain damage, cerebral palsy and erb’s palsy, all of which require expensive and extensive physical therapy and rehabilitation.
Contact the birth injury attorneys at our firm immediately if your son or daughter is suffering because of a health care provider’s inattention, so that we may advise you of your legal rights.Call us today at 1 (800) 460-0606 to schedule a free consultation.
[Did You Know: Approximately one in every 664 babies delivered via medical forceps sustains a brain injury.]
Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP – Birth Injury Attorneys
Source: http://www.redding.com/news/2014/may/25/lawsuit-texas-inmate-solitary-confinement-says-jai/
