Category Archives: Brain Damage
Maryland Lawmakers Contemplating Birth Injury Fund
According to the Baltimore Sun, lawmakers in Maryland are pushing for a bill that would create a fund to help pay for treatment for babies who suffer from neurological injuries during birth. The legislation would let hospitals, doctors with obstetrics and gynecological practices, as well as malpractice insurers, pay annual fees to the birth injury fund, which families could used to pay medical bills, recoup lost earnings potential and cover other costs, according to the Sun. Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical System feel that the fund is needed because of several recent multimillion-dollar judgments in the state. The healthcare providers said that if lawsuits continue to mount, it could lead to some practices closing and reduced access to medical care. “What we would like is a fair shake in cost containment,” Andrew Satin, director of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told the Sun. “I…
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Posted in Birth Defects, Birth Trauma, Brain Damage, Brain Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Shoulder Dystocia Comments Off on Maryland Lawmakers Contemplating Birth Injury Fund
Family Awarded $55 Million After Delayed C-Section Results In Cerebral Palsy
According to the Express-Times, a Pennsylvania family was awarded $55 million last December after it sued a hospital and one of its doctors for medical malpractice. The news outlet reported that a Lehigh County jury awarded the money to the family after it was convinced that St. Luke’s University Hospital and Dr. Ronald Kirner ignored signs that a baby boy was not getting enough oxygen during his November 2009 birth and should have been delivered via Caesarean section. The Express-Times reported that Matthew Crowell lost oxygen when he became stuck during a vaginal delivery. His mother, Sharon Petrosky Crowell, reportedly began hemorrhaging and required emergency surgery. Matthew now suffers from cerebral palsy and is severely developmentally delayed. The jury reportedly decided St. Luke’s and Kirner are each 50 percent to blame for Matthew’s disabilities. The Express-Times reported that the family is unlikely to get the full $55 million award because…
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Family Settles $9 Million Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit With Hospital
According to the Associated Press, the family of a Virginia boy who was birthed in a Hawaii military hospital has reached a $9 million settlement with the facility after he was born with cerebral palsy. According to the AP, the settlement was recorded in a federal court in Honolulu on January 27, only needing the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice before being awarded. In a lawsuit, the family of Noah Whitney claims he was born in 2010 at Tripler Army Medical Center with a “catastrophic brain injury” because of negligence on the part of the facility. The family alleged that healthcare providers failed to respond appropriately to signs and symptoms of uterine rupture in Noah’s mother and took too long to perform a cesarean section. According to the AP, “Laura Whitney arrived at the hospital on Sept. 7, 2010 with severe lower abdominal pain at about 35 weeks…
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