$1,175,000 Million Settlement for Labor & Delivery Negligence

Mitchell Makowicz represented the mother and estate of a deceased child. Our client was admitted to a hospital in May of 2004, in labor with her first child. The pre-natal care had been routine, with no indication of any problems. For the first twelve hours, the labor progressed normally. Then, the fetal heart monitoring strips indicated that the baby’s brain was not getting enough oxygen; and, this was properly recognized and successfully dealt with by routine procedures. However, the strips began to again demonstrate abnormalities in the baby’s heart rate. Mitch worked with an expert obstetrician, and established that the standard of care required the defendant doctor to call for a Caesarian Section delivery in light of the recurring heart rate abnormalities. The Defendant obstetrician did not do so. At deposition, the defendant doctor admitted that she had determined that the delivery had to be “expedited”, and prepared to use a vacuum extractor to that end. However the medical records indicated that no vacuum attempt was made until it was too late, and that it was unsuccessful. The doctor also delayed in ordering a Caesarian Section delivery until after the fetus had already experienced a deep and severe slowing of the heart rate, resulting in a lack of oxygen to the brain, and profound brain damage. The C-section delivered the baby alive, but he died seventeen months later due to a myriad of health issues. Claims against the defendant hospital and its employee nurse were settled for $275,000 before trial commenced. The claim against the defendant obstetrician settled for $900,000 during trial, after Mitch finished presenting our client’s argument and evidence.