Earlier this week, a family learned that a jury decided to side with a doctor in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The family’s child had suffered an injury during birth five years ago. The family argued that the doctor who had delivered their baby had caused the injury, but a jury concluded this week that the doctor did not cause the baby’s birth injury because the doctor had enough experience to know how to prevent and avoid causing injuries when delivering babies, even during emergency situations.
Although experienced doctors may be less likely to make mistakes, experienced doctors may still be responsible making errors due to negligence. The family had filed a malpractice lawsuit against the delivering doctor because they had believed that the doctor caused the baby to suffer an injury by using too much traction when delivering the baby. However, the doctor claimed that she did what was necessary to deliver the baby as safely as possible during an emergency.
During the delivery of the baby five years ago, some of the baby’s nerves were damaged. The lawsuit had argued that this damage could have been avoided had the doctor been more careful when delivering the couple’s baby. However, the doctor’s attorney had argued that because the doctor had successfully delivered about 1,500 babies, the doctor clearly had enough experience at that point to know how to deliver the couple’s baby as safely as possible given the circumstances. A jury agreed that the doctor was not negligent when delivering the couple’s baby.
Medical malpractice claims — especially birth injury claims — are very complex because there are many legal and medical issues that must be addressed. When it comes to pursuing a medical malpractice claim, birth injury victims and their families will want to make sure their cases are handled strategically and aggressively. As this family’s case illustrates, it can be very difficult to prove that some doctors are responsible for causing patients to suffer serious and permanent injuries.
Malpractice victims and their families are often left to face a variety of hardships, including medical problems and financial problems. A lot is at stake when someone is harmed by medical negligence, but victims and their families may have a better chance of recovering the compensation they need and deserve to move on with their lives when they have an attorney to fight for them.
Source: Press Herald, “Waterville doctor cleared of malpractice in baby’s birth,” April 16, 2013
