Suit Over Birth Injuries at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center Settled for $2.3M

1/14/2011
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Suit Over Birth Injuries at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center Settled for $2.3M

A girl born at the naval hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia (VA), faces a lifetime of mental and physical disabilities stemming from cerebral palsy and other developmental problems. That much is indisputable. Other facts and conclusions from a birth injury lawsuit filed by the child's parents against the federal government and the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center remain unknowable following a U.S. Justice Department decision to settle the case by paying the girl's family $2.3 million for past medical expenses and the costs of providing care for her for the rest of her life.

Suing federal health care providers and facilities can be difficult because, essentially,the same government employs the judge who decides the case as the entities that injured the plaintiffs. You get no jury of your peers under the Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA. Active duty military personnel cannot sue for medical malpractice or medical negligence at all, for instance, under the theory that all health care provided by military doctors, nurses, technicians and pharmacists comes in the course of the soldiers', sailors' and airmen's life-risking service. My colleagues have decried the basic injustice of this legal principle, known as the Feres Doctrine, so I'll leave that discussion aside to focus on the most-recent birth injury settlement.

According to a report in the January 11, 2011, Virginian-Pilot, a young woman checked into the Portsmouth naval hospital when the woman started experiencing unusual cramps and pains during her last week of pregnancy. Evidence presented during pretrial hearings indicated that the woman "was moved to a triage room and connected to a fetal heart monitor, which showed abnormalities indicating the fetus was under stress, the suit says. Instead of notifying a doctor, the papers say, the staff left [the woman] for more than an hour without any intervention."

Some time between that admission and when doctors performed an emergency caesarean section more than two hours later, the baby detached from it placenta and got starved of oxygen. The lack of oxygen may have caused the young girl's cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

Complicated labor and delivery, and even birth injury, occur frequently. Doctors and nurses must monitor mothers and fetuses closely whenever problems present themselves. While no one on the staff of the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center admitted to malpractice or negligence during while caring for the woman and her child, it seems possible that quicker action on the part of doctors and nurses could have spared the young girl and her family decades of suffering and hardships.

No amount of money can make up for the quality of life lost by the child and her parents. The funds will provide some much needed help and peace of mind, however. My thoughts are with the family.

EJL

Category: Medical Malpractice/Doctor Mistakes

Labels: Attorney baby birth cerebral palsy child Cooper delivery doctors errors federal Feres Doctrine injury lawsuit medical malpractice military naval hospital negligence nurses Portsmouth VA

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a VA injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling cases brought by victims of traumatic brain injury and closed head injuries. In fact, in 2000, our firm helped a plaintiff receive what was then the largest verdict ever in a Virginia brain injury case. Then in the year 2012 we won a $21 million brain injury verdict. We also have a blog in which we discuss only topics related to brain injuries and head wounds.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been named to the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008.Shapiro and Lewis have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2008. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers receive this professional honor. In addition, our firm was the first in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA injury law firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.
We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Suffolk and Newport News if you or a family member has been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness. While not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential consultations. Call us toll-free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can get back to you.

1 Comments to "Suit Over Birth Injuries at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center Settled for $2.3M"

Birth injuries are always a serious matter

Posted by injured at birth on December 5, 2011 at 07:03 PM

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Suit Over Birth Injuries at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center Settled for $2.3M

1 Comments to "Suit Over Birth Injuries at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center Settled for $2.3M"

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