Settlement in Shoulder Dystocia Case in Virginia
Virginia Lawyers Weekly reports today on a $1,000,000 settlement in a medical malpractice Erb’s palsy case. The interesting thing about this case is that the injuries occurred during the course of a cesarean section. The father of the child claimed he witnessed the obstetrician applying excessive force to the fetal head after the baby’s shoulder did not clear. Plaintiff’s expert testified the doctor failed to make the incision large enough to extract the baby’s head and then inappropriately applied traction while the head was still entrapped. Fortunately, the child was promptly diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury that was confined to the child’s neck (at C5/C6). After surgery, the child has a good prognosis for a functional arm and hand.
Shoulder Dystocia cases are not rare but this is the first case I have seen or read about where the OB/GYN’s malpractice was the failure to make a large enough C-section incision.
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