Birth injury lawyers at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm report on a recent settlement out of Northern California, between UC Davis Medical Center and the parents of a little girl born with substantial brain damage, which they believe was the result of medical negligence.
The plaintiff, a 20-month-old girl, was represented by her family in the suit against UC Davis Medical Center, where she was born nearly two years ago. Her mother, Jenny Kaminer, was in labor for seven hours at the facility even though her attending physicians knew her child was in jeopardy. Her family claims that a routine Caesarian section would have resulted in a normal birth.
Kaminer’s physicians wrongly believed that she opposed having a Caesarian section, causing the seven-hour delay and consequent brain damage to her daughter. However, Kaminer claimed that she provided doctors and the hospital with her written consent to perform a Caesarian if need be. The girl was consequently born with permanent brain damage due to lack of oxygen during the long delay.
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She will never be able to walk or speak; her parents hope the $9 million, which will be placed in an annuity, will go toward new treatments to improve her quality of life down the road. Since her birth the Kaminer’s have been struggling to pay their daughter’s immense medical bills, and her father had to quit his job to tend to her needs. The $9 million payment is the largest birth injury-related malpractice settlement in UC Davis’ history.
Lack of oxygen to the brain during delivery can result in an array of serious injuries depending on how long the child’s brain was deprived. Cerebral palsy is, unfortunately, among the most common injury – more than 10,000 children in the U.S. are born with the disorder every year, often the result of medical negligence. Cerebral palsy is an incurable neurological disorder affecting muscle movement, motor skills, and the ability to walk, speak and hear.
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Cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders are the result of medical malpractice if physicians did not recognize the warning signs and conduct appropriate precautionary measures to prevent such an injury. Medical mistakes such as the misuse of vacuums or forceps can also lead to catastrophic injuries, as can failure to monitor vital signs and failure to detect a prolapsed umbilical cord.
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The CDC estimates that the cost of caring for someone with cerebral palsy totals about one million dollars throughout that person’s lifetimes, which is why medical malpractice suits like the Kaminer’s are so critical to maintaining the highest quality of life for those afflicted, especially when the injury is the result of malpractice.
A mother in Pennsylvania recently won $4 million for the injuries caused to her daughter during birth. Like Jenny Kaminer, the woman was denied a timely caesarean, which caused her daughter to be born with cerebral palsy. The woman, Erin McCarthy, was in labor for over eight hours with her daughter. After she became too tired to push, her physician used forceps to deliver the infant.
McCarthy’s daughter was deprived of oxygen for three-and-a-half minutes during delivery when her child became caught on McCarthy’s pelvis. The mother successfully argued that her physician knew going into labor that a caesarian would likely be necessary as the child was much larger than average. The child was immediately sent to the neonatal intensive care unit, where she stayed for two months. The jury ultimately agreed that her injuries were the result of malpractice, awarding McCarthy $4 million.
Birth injury attorneys at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm specialize in injuries caused by medical negligence and malpractice, and have decades of experience working alongside families. If you or a loved one was seriously or permanently injured by a medical mistake, you may be entitled to significant compensation, and should contact a skilled attorney today for a free legal consultation.
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