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Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has been ordered to pay a family $30 million after a jury found them liable for traumatic birth injuries their infant had suffered. According to the claim, the baby had suffered serious injuries at birth that reportedly caused the child to have life long problems.
The Boston Globe reports that the medical malpractice lawsuit was filed by Kim B. and Daniel B., who alleges that her son had not been properly monitored during her labor, which caused him to be born not breathing and with almost no heartbeat.
The claim states the medical team was not expecting this because they had not been using a fetal heart rate monitor, which did not allow the medical staff to properly monitor the state of the baby during the delivery.
Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring
According to the medical malpractice lawsuit, the on staff nurse had checked the infant’s heart rate intermittently while using a handheld device.
While the intermittent readings were meant to indicate the infant’s condition, the lawsuit states that the nurse was actually monitoring Kim’s heart rate. If an abnormal heart rate was present, Kim would have undergone a C-section to deliver the baby or the doctor would have used tools like forceps or a vacuum.
The lawsuit points out that MGH policy requires medical professionals to use a continuous fetal heart rate monitor, especially when the mother is pushing during the second stage of labor.
The nurse and MGH allegedly failed to do this, which caused serious injuries at birth. Approximately one in every 9.714 people in the United States are born with a birth injury.
The most common birth injuries include Brachial Plexus Palsy, bone fractures, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy.
Overview of Birth Injury Allegations
The baby was born in January 2013 and the labor reportedly lasted five hours. The claim states he was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck in the birth canal which left the infant with serious brain injuries.
Kim and Daniel’s child reportedly cannot walk, speak, or eat on his own and will most likely have these difficulties for the rest of his life.
This medical malpractice lawsuit made its way to a Suffolk County jury that awarded the family $30.6 million, reportedly finding Cross Country Staffing Inc. negligent in the care and treatment of Kim and her son.
Cross Country Staffing was the company that supplied the nurse who was reportedly monitoring the infant and should have noticed the slow heart rate.
According to the Boston Globe, the company, shortly before the verdict, reached a separate settlement with the family and will be spared from the $30 million. Lawyers involved stated that the settlement is one of the largest awards for a medical malpractice lawsuit in the recent history of Massachusetts. Other birth injury malpractice lawsuits are still pending around the country.
The trial lasted approximately two weeks. Kim and Daniel were reportedly “completely overwhelmed with joy” when they heard the verdict. Kim stated they not only were seeking compensation for her son’s injuries at birth, but also wanted hospitals to implement better safety guidelines and instructions for fetal heart monitoring to help prevent similar injuries to other newborns.
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