Negligent Obstetrician Management Plan Results in Mother's Death

Medical Malpractice Cases

Situation:
Negligent Obstetrician Management Plan Results in Mother's Death

Lipkin & Higgins was asked by another law firm to investigate a possible medical malpractice case involving the death of a 29 yr old woman who went into premature labor 22 weeks into her pregnancy. The woman had had 2 uneventful prior pregnancies, delivering 2 healthy sons. This was followed by a third pregnancy resulting in a uterine rupture and miscarriage in the 28th week of pregnancy.

A year and a half later, the woman presented to a local hospital late at night, complaining of severe abdominal pain. She was 22 weeks pregnant, not in labor. The Emergency Room physician learned of the prior history of uterine rupture, writing this into her medical chart. The patient was admitted into the hospital for observation, and assigned an on-call obstetrician. By the time the obstetrician first evaluated the patient 4 hours later, she had begun to labor. A short time later, her bag of waters broke, meaning that the labor could not be delayed, and she would soon deliver.

Lipkin & Higgins was able to prove that the management plan by the obstetrician was negligent, as was the nursing care provided by the hospital. We showed that obstetrical guidelines indicated that a woman with prior history of uterine rupture must not be allowed to actively labor. Instead, an immediate cesarean section would be required, because the risk of re-rupture - a life threatening event- was significant.

Successful Resolution: $3,200,000

This unfortunate young woman was allowed to labor, was not closely monitored by nursing staff or the obstetrician, and suffered another uterine rupture and massive internal bleeding, causing her death. She left behind her 2 sons, then ages 5-7.

Lipkin & Higgins obtained a $3.2 million settlement just before the case was to begin trial.

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