A mother and daughter in Philadelphia have been awarded $78 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving the daughter’s tragic and avoidable birth defect.
The Legal Examiner reports that the young girl, now three years old, suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy because of the care her mother received at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center while she was pregnant. Cerebral palsy is the result of the brain being denied blood or oxygen during birth. It is avoided by using proper monitoring techniques and equipment.
When the mother went to Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, she said that she could feel the baby kicking. Her obstetrician performed an ultrasound and did not find a heartbeat, informing the mother her baby was dead. As a result, the mother was not attended to for at least an hour. Later, a trained technician arrived at the hospital and discovered that there was indeed a heartbeat, at which point the mother was given an emergency C-section.
The child’s life was saved, but the damage had already been done. The infant’s brain had already suffered the oxygen deprivation that would develop into cerebral palsy.
The $78 million award is meant to cover the lifetime of medical costs that the young girl will require as well as ease the pain and suffering that has been and will continue to be felt by the mother and daughter.
At Gacovino, Lake & Associates, we are experts in medical malpractice litigation. Call us today for a free consultation – 1-800-246-HURT (4878).
