California Medical Malpractice Law Blog

Jury selection has begun in a multimillion-dollar medical malpractice lawsuit arising out of a birth injury. The birth injury lawsuit against Indian River Medical Center arose out of the actions undertaken by medical staff and two physicians at the hospital. In 2008, the infant at the center of the case was born dead. She was resuscitated, but now suffers from cerebral palsy.

The birth trauma occurred during a difficult delivery. The mother, Melissa Guettler, was undergoing a normal birth when the baby starting showing signs of fetal distress. However, according to the lawsuit, the hospital staff failed to act quickly enough in ordering an emergency cesarean section. When the c-section was eventually performed, the child was born dead. Although a physician was able to resuscitate the infant, evidence suggests that had she been born 15 minutes earlier, the birth injury could have been avoided.

While not every birth injury constitutes medical malpractice, where medical staff fail to act with the requisite standard of care and an infant is harm, they may be guilty of medical negligence and be responsible to pay damages.

One of the most frequent birth injuries in cerebral palsy, often linked to oxygen deprivation at birth. When a baby is allowed to remain in the birth canal for too long and a newborn is denied sufficient oxygen, this debilitating condition can result. Symptoms of cerebral palsy include the loss of movement or other functions related to the nervous system. It may manifest itself as cognitive difficulties such as the ability to think and learn, or uncontrolled movement of the limbs. In some cases the signs show up right away, other time signs of cerebral palsy are not noticeable until the child reaches his or her second birthday.