Family awarded $55 million after malpractice causes infant injury

The birth of a baby can be a very complicated and sensitive process at times. During labor and delivery, a baby’s life is often placed in a precarious situation. Medical practitioners need to know how to reduce or altogether remove such risks to the baby’s well-being. Otherwise, if an infant injury occurs due to a medical practitioner’s negligence, parents across the United States, including in Connecticut, can hold the medical practitioner and the hospital legally liable.

Such a birth injury case has been making the headlines recently. A jury awarded a family with $55 million in damages after they found a hospital and one of its doctors negligent in a November 2009 birth. According to the jury, they concluded that the doctor did not notice the signs that the baby was not receiving enough oxygen and should have been delivered through a Cesarean section.

As a result of the oxygen deprivation, the boy, now four-years-old, suffered health problems, including developmental delays and cerebral palsy. A spokesperson for the hospital has asserted that they did not cause the baby any harm and gave him the best care possible during delivery.

Birth injuries can have devastating effects on a life that is just beginning. It deprives a baby of the chance to live a normal and healthy life. It can also significantly shorten the baby’s life span due to complications from health problems. Parents can suffer as well. In addition to seeing their child suffer, the parents also have to make ends meet to cover the medical expenses for the child.

New Haven parents in this kind of situation may wish to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against a negligent medical practitioner or hospital. This course of action can lead to monetary awards that can help pay for the medical expenses and other long-term needs of their child.

Source: Insurance Journal, “Pennsylvania Jury Awards $55M for Boy’s Injuries at Birth,” Dec. 27, 2013