$670,000 Settlement for Shoulder Dystocia / Erb’s Palsy

Blume Donnelly partner David M. Fried obtained this settlement for a 15-year-old girl who sustained an injury to her brachial plexus nerves (shoulder arm and hand nerves) during her birth. “Shoulder dystocia” occurs when a baby’s shoulder gets trapped behind the mother’s pubic bone during delivery. A doctor or midwife is supposed to use certain maneuvers to free the stuck shoulder. In addition, to prevent injury to the brachial plexus nerves running from the neck through the shoulder/arm, one should not exert excessive force in attempts to deliver the child. In this delivery, the doctor exerted too much traction during delivery, and failed to utilize accepted maneuvers to deliver the child, it resulted in a permanent brachial plexus injury, manifested by physical deformity, and, limited function of the shoulder, arm and hand (Erb’s and/or Klumpke’s Palsy). However, our client did not receive extensive treatment for her condition.