According to the Law Firm Newswire, an Atlanta jury recently agreed with a family that their daughter’s cerebral palsy was a direct result of negligence on part of the doctor and awarded them a multi-million dollar injury award. The birth injury lawyer representing the family called it a disturbing case with clear signs that could have avoided the results, if the medical professionals had acted promptly on symptoms of a baby in distress.
At trial, the jury heard the story of how an expectant mother-to-be went for her regular checkups and the results of her non-stress test showed herb baby had a low heart rate. The doctor suggested that labor be induced and the parents agreed to go ahead with an emergency c-section. However, when the doctor induced labor, she decided against the c-section, causing the baby to not get enough oxygen needed to her brain. Cerebral palsy is caused by lack of oxygen to the brain during or shortly after birth.
An expert witness testified that the baby also suffered additional injuries compounded by the fact that labor was induced, and then vacuum applied for extraction. The doctor felt that she did not consider doing a c-section because she did not see signs that anything was wrong, even though a c-section performed as originally planned would have prevented the child’s cerebral palsy.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP. – cerebral palsy lawyers
