A federal judge in Georgia ruled that the United States was liable for a federally funded clinic birth injury case. The plaintiff went into a local Women’s Health Center. As the Court explains:
On April 20, 2012, Coleman arrived at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. Since Coleman’s pregnancy had reached 40 weeks and five days and the size of her fetus was larger than expected, Coleman’s labor was induced. To induce labor, both Cervidil and Pitocin were used. On April, 21, 2012, Coleman went into labor. After noticing that Coleman’s infant’s fetal heart rate was low, the medical staff determined that a vacuum extractor was necessary to deliver the baby faster. Once J.D.’s head was delivered, Dr. Efemini recognized pregnancy complications caused by shoulder dystocia. To resolve these complications, Dr. Efemini applied the McRoberts maneuver, and then Nurse Edge applied suprapubic pressure. After three pulls on J.D.’s head, according to Nurse Edge, J.D. was delivered. Following delivery, J.D. could not move her left arm. Upon J.D.’s discharge from the hospital, it was noted “[t]his is a term infant with brachial plexus palsy due to a difficult vaginal delivery.” On October 3, 2012, only a few months after J.D’s birth, an MRI exam identified injuries to the C6, C7, and T1 nerve roots and other damage consistent with a brachial plexus injury.
If you have been the victim of medical malpractice at a community health clinic, you should consult a lawyer as soon as possible. Often, it is extremely difficult to (sometimes) impossible to determine the status of the community health clinic. If they are a federally funded community health clinic, you will need someone who has experience in bringing lawsuits against the United States.
In this federally funded clinic birth injury case, the Court found over $6,000,000 in damages for the child injured at birth.
In many federally funded clinic birth injury cases, you will need a lawyer who knows how to secure medical experts to determine future medical expenses. In this case, the child needed a variety of services throughout the course of her life.
Some of the aspects included in child’s future needs will include physical medicine treatments 24 times a year starting during her adulthood, trigger point injections 1 to 3 times a year, and several epidural injections all beginning when she is in her forties or fifties. Children who have been injured at birth by negligent obstetrical care often need physical, speech, and occupational therapy and visit with a physiatrist throughout the course of their lives.