New York Medical Malpractice Attorneys

$1,500,000-Negligent care during pregnancy resulted in severe spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and other injuries

Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald Case #A03093

Medical Malpractice

Severe Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy and Seizure Disorder

Settlement: $1,500,000

Injuries:

• Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy
• Severe spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy
• Microcephaly
• Seizure disorder
• Cortical amaurosis
• Deafness
• Severe psychomotor retardation

At the time this case was settled, Plaintiff was severely disabled. He was unable to creep, crawl, roll over, sit, stand or walk. He was fed by gastrostomy tube and required frequent suctioning. He required oxygen periodically and received this through bi-pap. He was unable to take care of any of his personal needs and required round the clock custodial care. Plaintiff had seizure episodes as often as 2 to 3 times a day. He took a variety of antiseizure medications.

Facts:

In this medical malpractice case, Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald represented a child with severe spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy (hereinafter the child is referred to as Plaintiff).  Plaintiff was born on December 3, 2001 via a cesarean section at Defendant Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC), at 37 weeks of gestation.  Plaintiff’s mother’s obstetrical history was significant for a prior fetal demise. Her pregnancy with Plaintiff was further complicated with Lupus. On the day of the delivery, Plaintiff’s mother presented to the LIJMC complaining of decreased fetal movement at 11:40 a.m. However, she was not put on any monitoring machine until 12:44 p.m., almost an hour after the admission, as the nurse was unable to locate a functioning fetal heart monitoring machine (FHM). Even after Plaintiff’s mother was attached to the FHM, the monitoring was interrupted by a 30-minute sonogram. The limited FHM was not properly reviewed and interpreted until 1:25 p.m. when the chief resident physician was first notified. The reading of the FHM revealed decreased fetal movement, tachycardic tracing with variable decelerations and subsequently, a cesarean section was decided upon. However, the cesarean section was not immediately performed due to LIJMC’s delay in preparations. A cesarean section was finally performed at 2:50 p.m. At birth, Plaintiff showed evidence of severe asphyxia. His Apgar scores were 2 and 8 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. He was intubated immediately. Decreased muscle tone was noted with no respiratory effort, poor color and decreased reflexes. Plaintiff was then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). During the nursery course, numerous tests indicated hypoxia, increased tone in all extremities and presence of diffuse bilateral cerebral dysfunction. A gastrostomy tube was placed with a fundoplication.  Eventually, Plaintiff was transferred to another hospital after around 3 weeks of hospitalization.  Plaintiff’s injuries were suggestive of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), which could have been diagnosed and properly treated during the prenatal-care period.

Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald successfully argued that Defendant Long Island Jewish Medical Center, its agent and employees, departed from generally good and accepted medical practice by failing to: (1) properly interpret the Plaintiff mother’s sonogram results during her prenatal visits; (2) perform additional sonograms; (3) to diagnose, treat and appropriately respond to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR); (4) timely perform appropriate monitoring to ascertain the fetal condition; (5) appropriately and timely respond to fetal heart monitoring strips (FHMS); (6) timely diagnose fetal distress; and (7) timely prepare Plaintiff’s mother for cesarean section, which resulted in catastrophic and permanent injuries to Plaintiff, including spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy.