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Doctor Sued For Malpractice For Failure to Monitor Fetal Vital Signs Properly

By Joseph Hernandez

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 23Oct2009 Word count: 543 Viewed: 149 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

In the rare situation in which unborn twins share the same amniotic sac there is a substantial risk that their umbilical cords will become entangled. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the babies. In some cases neither baby survives. In some other cases even though one baby survives that twin is left with a severe brain injury. An emergency C-section as soon as an umbilical cord occlusion takes place is the one way to save both babies and prevent a brain injury. This requires careful monitoring of the mother during the pregnancy for signs that the umbilical cords have become entangled.

In this article we explore a reported case in which the mother was diagnosed with this type of pregnancy. Beginning in her 26th week of pregnancy her doctor ordered twice a week non-stress testing to monitor her twins vital signs. Although it was common practice to admit the mother and have the babies monitored daily, the doctor failed to do this and sometime between two tests, one twin died and the other twin suffered a severe brain damage.

The parents filed a lawsuit alleging medical malpractice. While the parents had suffered a tragic loss, the defense did not settle the claim. The law firm that represented the family took the case to trial where a jury awarded $3.0 million for the loss suffered by the parents and for the future medical expenses of caring for their brain injured baby. Any relief the parents experienced with their success at trial was soon lost when the Appeals Court overturned the award.

To be successful on a medical malpractice claim, a plaintiff must show that a doctor's negligence, more likely than not, caused the injury to the patient and that the doctor breached the standard of care that all patients should receive in that particular scenario. On appeal, the state's Appeals Court found that doctor had not violated a standard of care as it could not be determined whether that standard required weekly, bi-weekly or daily monitoring of twins. The Appeals Court further stated that because it could not be determined when the death actually occurred between the two tests, it could not be said with certainty that the doctor's failure to monitor the twins more frequently caused their death and brain injury.

With this type of result a number of parents would have been discouraged and emotionally depleted. The parents nonetheless decided to take the decision to the state's Supreme Court which disagreed with the Appeals Court decision and required them to reinstate the award of $3,000,000 to the family.

In the Appeals Court's second opinion, they cited numerous studies and articles which stated that to ensure the safety of both twins it is required to admit the mother around the 26th week of pregnancy and to conduct non-stress tests at least daily, if not two to three times daily, to monitor the twins vital signs. Although this was common practice and this doctor should have been aware of this, he failed to admit the mother and only conducted twice a week testing. As a result of this the doctor did not see the signs of distress and one twin was a stillborn and the other had a severe brain injury, making the $3,000,000 award appropriate.

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