Birth Injury Lawsuit Awards to Help Finance Injured Children’s Care

A woman who filed a birth injury lawsuit alleging her baby suffered preventable injuries will receive a record-setting award, according to a Baltimore jury, but critics wonder if the award will make a difference in the big picture of hospital care.

Plaintiff Erica B. filed her lawsuit against the medical staff at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore after the staff purportedly delayed a cesarean section delivery. Her little girl Zubida is now four-and-a-half years old, but has a difficult road ahead of her. The jury awarded her $229 million earlier this month.

Because the state of Maryland has capped awards at $200 million, Erica is likely to see her award adjusted. A judge might reduce the award or she could lose the case on appeal. She also could win if the hospital appeals, but be awarded a lesser amount.

Reasons for Birth Injury Lawsuit Award Amounts

Medical awards in the tens or hundreds of millions can help a family provide the 24-hour care often needed for a loved one, but money doesn’t stop babies from being injured at birth in the first place. Medical errors are most costly in cases involving birth injuries because the resulting physical and mental problems are apt to impact the baby’s entire lifespan.

In addition to a pediatrician, a child impacted by birth injuries like cerebral palsy may need assistance from a pediatric neurologist, orthopedic surgeon, occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech and language therapist, special education teacher, social worker or psychologist.

Other cases have resulted in multi-million-dollar awards as the result of a birth injury lawsuit.

A New Mexico mom and her baby boy received a $73 million award after a jury determined the doctor at the Pecos Valley Clinic didn’t anticipate the mother would give birth to a very large baby. The mom’s pre-existing condition of having diabetes and being an older pregnant woman should have prompted the doctor to recommend a cesarean section, the jury decided, especially when the doctor had estimated the baby would be 8 pounds.

The lawsuit says the baby weighed 11 pounds at birth. The baby’s size hindered his removal from the birth canal, where his shoulders became stuck. As a result, the lawsuit contends he was not able to breathe for 10 minutes. When the doctor used a vacuum to pull the baby out, the infant’s nerves that controlled his right arm ripped. The mother was also injured in the process, and the baby suffers from permanent brain damage and cannot use his right hand.

The number of birth injury lawsuits and the high payouts concern some states, including the state of Maryland, where the Maryland Maternity Access Coalition is striving to convince state lawmakers to form a special trust paid for by hospitals. The Maryland Children’s Special Needs Trust for Neurological Injuries would provide medical care to injured babies for their entire lives.

According to the National Healthcare Quality Report, there are seven birth injuries for every 1,000 births in the U.S., but not all of those are due to negligence.