2011 CITY OF ST. LOUIS
WRONGFUL DEATH MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, BIRTH INJURY
ATTORNEY: ROBERT H. PEDROLI, JR.
CLAIM SUMMARY: NEGLEGENT FAILURE TO TIMELY PERFORM CESARIAN SECTION; NEGLIGENT FAILURE TO HAVE AN EXTRA AVAILABLE OPERATING ROOM AT NIGHT FOR EMERGENCIES
Parties: Young unmarried mother of decedent still born child vs. ob-gyn physician and hospital
Type of Claim: We concluded a suit against a physician and hospital for wrongful death of full term fetus that was still born. It was alleged that the physician waited too long to call for an emergency c-section. Ther fetal heart monitor tapes or tracings showed fetal tachycardia and bradycardia for durations that made the tracings non-reassuring. The situation worsened so that other patterns emerged including: saltatory variability; variable decelerations associated with a non-reassuring pattern; late decelerations without preserved beat-to-beat variability; persistent late decelerations with loss of beat-to-beat variability; non-reassuring variable decelerations associated with loss of beat-to-beat variability; prolonged severe bradycardia; and sinusoidal pattern.
The hospital failed to have an available operating room and failed to open one in a timely fashion.
There is evidence of a standard of 30 minutes to perform a cesarian section upon the existence of an obstetric emergency. The parties agreed to contribute to a confidential settlement. The case settled after a recess of the defendant physician’s deposition.
Damages: death of fetus and loss of society, services and relationship opportunities with deceased son.
SETTLEMENT: Settlement amount confidential. Settlement was made by the hospital and the physician.
COMMENTS: A full understanding of the standards applicable to ob-gyn physicians and maternity hospitals is necessary to properly pursue these devastating cases.
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