A Peoria County teenager was recently successful in a birth injury lawsuit against a pediatric surgeon who caused her serious injury more than a decade ago. Although treating infants comes with challenges, parents often have the expectation that physicians will do all they can to appropriately treat their babies. Harm occurring during such care can have lasting effects, physically, emotionally, and financially.
If your infant suffered harm, and a doctor mistake is to blame, you may pursue compensation with the help of a birth injury lawyer. Call Ankin Law to discuss your case in Chicago, Illinois, at 312-600-0000.
The Problem of Chicago Birth Injuries
Birth injuries account for about 20% of the 20,000 infant deaths that occur each year in the U.S. Such harm can result in lifelong disabilities, developmental delays, and cognitive impairments. Consequently, their occurrence can have a profound impact on children’s quality of life, and lead to them requiring extensive medical care and support.
Common Types of Birth Injuries
Although resilient, babies may suffer birth or infancy injuries that have lasting implications for them and their families.
Commonly occurring birth injuries include:
Brachial Plexus
Brachial plexus injuries occur due to overstretching or tearing of the nerves in the baby’s neck or shoulder. They may result from factors such as excessive traction, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, or failure to identify and treat shoulder dystocia.
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects muscle tone, movement, and coordination. Medical negligence may cause or exacerbate brain damage before, during, or shortly after birth, which may lead to the development of this condition.
Birth Asphyxia
Delayed cesarean section, failure to recognize and treat fetal distress, and the improper induction of labor, among other such negligent actions, can contribute to the condition known as birth asphyxia. Babies may suffer this type of brain damage due to not receiving enough oxygen during childbirth.
Kernicterus
Another type of brain damage, kernicterus occurs due to excessive bilirubin levels in the blood. Adequately monitoring newborns and infants for jaundice, and treating it promptly when it occurs, may help prevent this serious condition.
Fractures
Bone fractures can occur during childbirth or while undergoing or receiving other treatment because of excessive traction or force. Fractures are often painful, and they can require time and treatment to properly heal without causing future defect or disability.
Common Causes of Birth Injuries
Several factors contribute to the occurrence of injuries to some of the most vulnerable members of our families and communities. While some of these are unavoidable, a significant number are preventable.
In some cases, these injuries result from the action or inaction of the treating physician or other medical providers. While not always the cause, common medical errors and lapses in care, such as failure to monitor fetal heart rate, improper use of tools, and failure to recognize or respond to infant distress, lead to birth and infant injuries.
Doctor Error Leaves Infant With Serious Injury
In the recent Peoria County lawsuit, the birth injury lawyer representing the now-teen and her family claimed that when treating the girl at nine-months-old, the pediatric surgeon negligently caused a two-centimeter tear in her esophagus. The infant was receiving treatment for a choking episode. The lawsuit argues that the device the doctor used to dilate the infant’s esophagus was outdated, and that he used significant pushing pressure.
The birth injury lawsuit went on to allege that the physician used an adult airway stent to try to cover the tear, without informing the infant’s parents it was not approved for use in a child of their infant’s age. Further, the doctor dropped the stent in the infant’s stomach. It was not removed until 11 months later, after the infant developed feeding problems and required a feeding tube.
When Are Doctors Liable for Infant Patient Injuries?
Medical professionals in Illinois can be held liable for infant patient injuries when they directly cause harm to the infant by deviating from the accepted standard of care. Whether such deviations result from actions or omissions, patients may hold the treating physicians financially responsible for their injuries.
The verdict returned by the jury in the Peoria County lawsuit found the doctor was negligent in his care. The patient’s claim alleged the physician, who was formerly employed as a pediatric surgeon at OSF Children’s Hospital, failed to meet the standards of care in causing the esophageal tear. Further, that he breached his duty in using the adult airway stent, applying significant pushing pressure, and not adequately informing the parents about the stent and its lack of approval for use in infants.
How Do You Prove Negligence for Birth Injuries?
Birth injuries have consequences for both infants and their families. When these injuries are the result of medical negligence, it’s crucial to understand how to prove fault. To establish responsibility, and successfully recover compensation for birth injuries, the healthcare provider must have been negligent. Proving negligence involves establishing the doctor owed the patient a duty of care, the duty of care was breached, the breach of the standard of care caused the injuries, and the patient suffered damages due to his or her injuries.
Duty of Care
The duty of care is a fundamental legal principle requiring medical professionals to provide a reasonable level of skill and care in their practice. Due to the vulnerability of their patients, this duty, which is owed to patients, and often also their families, is particularly important for pediatric physicians.
In treating patients, physicians have a duty to provide competent care, including using appropriate techniques, to monitor their patients’ conditions, and to communicate clearly with the patient and their family.
Establishing duty of care for the purposes of a lawsuit typically involves showing that a doctor-patient relationship existed between the physician and patient. To this end, injured patients may present medical records, demonstrating that the healthcare provider rendered them medical services.
Breach of Duty
To successfully recover damages in a medical negligence lawsuit, injured patients must also prove that the care provided by the physician breached the duty of care. More than just making a mistake, to qualify as a breach of duty, the physician’s actions or inaction must have fallen below the level of care a reasonable physician would have provided under similar circumstances.
In providing breach of duty, many birth injury attorneys turn to medical malpractice expert witnesses. Other physicians with similar qualifications to those of the at-fault doctors in such cases may provide testimony that helps explain the care the patient should have received, and how the care that the patient got failed to meet the standards.
Causation of Injuries
The breach of the duty of care must be proven to have directly caused the injuries for patients to recover compensation in a doctor negligence case. Rather, patients cannot recover damages simply because there were lapses in their care. They must have suffered harm, such as worsened condition, injury, or death, as a direct result of the breach.
To prove causation, the legal representatives for injured patients and their families may present medical records or other relevant documentation as evidence. They may also call on expert medical witnesses to provide additional testimony and explanation.
Recovering Damages for Chicago Birth Injuries
Patients, and their families, may pursue damages for birth injuries suffered in Chicago hospitals through medical malpractice lawsuits. For those affected, the effects of mistakes at such a delicate time can have serious, and lasting implications. With the help of a medical malpractice lawyer, however, birth injury victims may obtain compensation for the physical, emotional, and financial losses they have, and will continue to, experience due to their conditions.
What Damages Can You Recover for Birth Injuries?
Through successful birth injury claims, patients who suffer harm may recover damages for their resulting losses. For example, economic and non-economic damages commonly compensate victims for the costs of current and future medical bills, lost wages during their recoveries, lost future income, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
The patient in the Peoria County birth injury case was awarded more than $2 million by a jury. Illinois does not put a cap on medical malpractice claims. An experienced birth injury lawyer will review the costs incurred up to the point of the lawsuit, as well as help project the future expenses, to get full and fair compensation.
Imagine the heartbreak of entrusting the care of your newborn or infant to a physician, and the treatment he or she receives causes further harm. If your baby was injured or suffered a worsened health condition while receiving treatment at a Chicago hospital, don’t hesitate to contact us at Ankin Law today. Call 312-600-0000 for a free initial consultation to discuss your rights and options.
