$1,500,000 Settlement For Birth Injured Child With Mild Hemiperisis
Plaintiff’s, who were represented by Erik Peterson with Bostwick, Peterson & Mitchell in San Francsico, contended that nurses and physicians failed to recognize non-reassuring signs during the labor and delivery process. Plaintiff’s experts were prepared to testify that had the non-reassuring signs been identified in compliance with the standard of care, that an expedited c-section would have prevented the child’s injuries. Plaintiff’s contended that the fetal heart tracing revealed persistent variable decelerations followed by severe and prolonged decelerations and bradycardia thirty seven minutes prior to delivery. The child’s APGAR scores were: 2 at 1 minute and 3 at 5 minutes. The umbilical cord artery reflected readings of ph: 6.71, CO2 131. 02 25 and base excess of -22.7, which is consistent with mixed respiratory and metabolic acidosis. The child was transferred to a tertiary hospital where she responded remarkably well to a cooling protocol for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Over the ensuing eighteen months the child’s neurologic examinations were near normal and there was scant, if any, diagnostic evidence of a cognitive injury. She was walking at ten months, communicating well at eighteen months and expected to be mainstreamed in the public school system. She was diagnosed with a mild left hemiparesis and gastrointestinal disorder; neither condition requiring attendant care. The non-economic (also known as "pain and suffering") damages in this medical malpractice case were limited by the provisions of MICRA.
