Birth Injury Attorneys

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Brooklyn Birth Injury

This case is one involving personal injuries sustained by the infant plaintiff, who was caused to suffer brain injuries due to perinatal asphyxia resulting from medical malpractice which occurred during his iatrogenically caused premature birth at 33-34 weeks at Brooklyn Hospital #1. Such malpractice occurred while he was under the care of the defendant hospital.

Briefly, it was plaintiffs' theory that the defendant, Brooklyn Hospital #1, and the attending obstetrician, were medically negligent in their management of the labor and delivery of this baby. It is plaintiff’s contention that the defendants made a gross miscalculation of gestational age, and ignored a sonogram, erroneously diagnosing the fetus to be post mature. No determination was made of fetal lung maturity. The baby was delivered, for no immediate medical indication, without any attempt to enhance lung maturity. The result was a fairly severe case of RDS and perinatal asphyxia. Thereafter the infant was not appropriately managed in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The mother was admitted to the hospital from the clinic on April 6th,with a diagnosis of post dates by one week. Significantly, she was nitrazene negative, her membranes were noted to be intact, she had no bleeding complaints ever and she was not complaining of contractions. We felt this was important because it appears that both the clinic and the physicians who took care of this patient in the defendant hospital failed to take into account this patient's confusing history regarding her last menstrual period. Additionally, they failed to take note of a sonogram that was taken on February 3rd, when this patient was admitted for a car accident in the very same hospital between January 31st and February 4th. That sonogram dated the fetus at 24.1 weeks. Nine weeks after February 3rd, the baby was actually delivered by cesarian section on April 7th (sonographic age was then only 33.1 weeks). Nor was the sonogram taken on the date of birth ever checked for gestational age. As it turns out, after this infant was born, his gestation was estimated to be 33-34 weeks and he was correctly noted to be a premature infant, consistent with the February 3 sonogram.

The post delivery and hospital course of the infant plaintiff included that the infant did develop respiratory distress and throughout his hospitalization in the pediatric unit, he was noted to have oxygen saturations in the 50s, as well as cyanosis. The child was intubated shortly after birth, then extubated. By April 10th, the child was again having difficulty breathing. He developed a pneumothorax and had to be reintubated. Reintubation was attempted by a pediatrician, who apparently did so incorrectly. The intubation had to be redone by an anesthesiologist. The baby suffered from a profound lack of oxygen during his newborn course at the hospital.

These failures by the defendants were a proximate cause of this baby, now child’s injuries, including severe mental retardation and brain damage, cerebral palsy, iatrogenic prematurity, inability to sit, stand, walk, damage to the brain and its structures; intracranial bleeding; severe physical handicap and retardation; asphyxia; delayed milestones, including walking and talking; need for mechanical ventilation and respirator requiring intubation; developmental delay; delayed and impaired gross and fine motor skills; muscle tone problems; limited play skills; need for occupational therapy; and impairment of cognitive development, learning and relationships with adults. She was also noted after admission to have a baby in a breech position and to have a complete placenta previa.

As a result of the medical malpractice that occurred in the Bronx Hospital and a multitude of injuries suffered by the infant plaintiff, the infant and mother received a substantial multimillion dollar recovery.
If you or a loved one has had a difficult delivery and have questions about the quality of the medical care you received please call Silberstein, Awad & Miklos' attorneys for answers. Together we will continue our fight against FRIVOLOUS DEFENSES and DECEPTIVE DEFENSES.

Our birth injury attorneys in New York and NYC including Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Queens are here to help you and offer free claim evaluations.

Case #2037

Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C.
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