According to the Flint Journal, a woman in Michigan was awarded $12.9 million last fall after she claimed that her healthcare provider’s medical mistakes during childbirth left her daughter disfigured and without the full use of her right arm.
The paper reported that the award was given to Libbey Bryson, 38, of Flint after a 12-day trial.
In her lawsuit, Bryson claimed the nerves controlling her daughter’s right arm were severed when resident doctors pulled down too hard on the baby’s head after it was stuck during childbirth on January 1, 2008.
The baby reportedly became stuck on her pelvic bone during birth and doctors should have done a cesarean section or delivered using a method that would have caused less strain on the baby, Bryson said.
The child has undergone multiple surgeries and continues to wear a brace on her right arm, which is malformed, according to court documents.
The Journal reported that award would likely be worth roughly $4 million once it is reduced to its present cash value and is forced to comply with state law that caps non-economic damages at $433,400.
A hospital representative declined to speak about the size of the award and said it would evaluate a possible appeal.
Should I Contact a Birth Injury Attorney?
Unfortunately, the failure to order a caesarian section delivery by a medical provider can have disastrous repercussions on a baby. Birth injuries resulting from the failure to order this procedure include deformities, brain damage, cerebral palsy, erb’s palsy and shoulder dystocia.
Most hospitals have an operating room and medical staff on stand-by when a cesarean delivery is needed. In most cases, it usually only takes about 30 minutes from the time a doctor orders the procedure until the actual surgery starts.
Please contact our birth injury attorneys at our firm immediately if your son or daughter is suffering because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, so that we may advise you of your legal rights and get your family the financial compensation to which it is entitled.
You can meet with our birth injury attorneys to see what options are available to you. For more information, call our firm at 1 (800) 460-0606 to schedule a free consultation.
[Did You Know: According to the CDC, in 2011, there were 1,293,267 cesarean deliveries in America.]
Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP – Birth Injury Attorneys
Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2013/10/jury_awards_nearly_13_million.html
