If your child has been born with cerebral palsy, a brachial plexus injury or a birth defect, you need an experienced team of lawyers who can determine whether negligence on the part of the obstetrician played a role in causing the injury.
Birth injuries are often the result of natural causes, such as genetics or prior medical conditions. But they also can and do occur at alarming rates because of medical malpractice. Dystocia (prolonged and difficult labor), improper or negligent monitoring, a lack of oxygen or excessive bleeding can all play a part in injuring a child at birth.
The American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology has published criteria for use in determining whether the injury may have occurred during labor and delivery. At Kolsby Gordon, we have two experienced professionals who are both licensed doctors and lawyers, each of whom has the experience and knowledge to investigate the factors that played a role in your baby’s injury, and assess whether carelessness on the part of the doctors delivering the baby played a role.
Parents of a child with a birth injury often face a lifetime of medical expenses and costs. Working with experts in the field of life care planning and economics, Kolsby Gordon has the ability to identify future costs and expenses and make the wrongdoer accountable for the future expenses that the parents face.
If your child was born with a birth injury, please call us today.
Pediatric Medical Malpractice
$2.75 million dollar recovery for pediatric surgical mistake
Our client was only four months old when he underwent a complicated operation to correct for a congenital condition called Hirschsprung’s disease. Patients who suffer from this condition lack nerve endings called ganglion cells in portions of the intestine, which tell the body to push material through the bowel. As a result, they face severe intestinal blockage.
The corrective surgery, transanal one-stage endorectal pull-through, is truly a feat of modern medicine and technology. It allows a physician to treat Hirschsprung’s disease by quite literally pulling the intestinal tract to find ganglion cells and connecting the functioning portion of the intestine to the anus.
Unfortunately, demonstrably negligent conduct on behalf of the young child’s physician effectively defeated the purpose of the operation. During surgery, the doctor pulled so much of the intestine from the child’s body that he was unable to replace it. As a result, this four-month-old boy, who also suffers from Down Syndrome, had to have his colon removed, and now has uncontrollable bowel movements which will likely last for the rest of his life.
Kolsby Gordon was able to work with the child’s distraught parents to craft a settlement that will be able to take care of his future medical needs for the rest of his life.
Physician fails to diagnose child’s dislocated hip, resulting in repeated surgical repairs.
For more than a year, a pediatrician failed to diagnose a young child’s dislocated hip. Had it been caught earlier, it almost certainly could have been treated with lasting results. Instead, the toddler endured repeated surgeries, splints, and procedures, with no guarantee of long-term success.
Failed diagnosis of impending stroke in teen leads to seven-figure verdict.
A 16-year-old girl displayed signs that pointed to a likely stroke, yet her doctor failed, despite years of complaints and a medical history consistent with an extremely high stroke risk, to refer her to a neurologist. As a result, she suffered a stroke, as well as permanent mental deterioration and emotional problems.
$3.5 million recovery for the family of child injured during birth
A baby was born with a twist in his intestines known as a malrotation, apparent through his persistent bile vomit, a clear sign of the medical emergency. Malrotation requires surgery to untwist before a perforation in the bowel occurs. Despite the fact that the infant vomited bile over the next 24 hours and an X-ray showed clear signs of the malrotation, nothing was done. Ultimately, the bowel perforated and had to be removed. Two years later, the child had to undergo a bowel transplant as a result of the delays.
Birth injury results in brain damage and death of child.
During the end of the plaintiff’s pregnancy, she suffered a complication that required immediate medical attention to prevent injury to the baby. Despite the fact that the plaintiff rushed to the emergency room, she was ignored for a hours while in the waiting room. As a result, the baby was deprived of oxygen, suffered brain damage and died four days after birth. Our plaintiff received $3.5 million as a result of this horrific medical oversight.
Family of brain damaged child receives $6 million recovery.
A six-year-old girl was hospitalized with pneumonia and was ventilated. A physician removed her endotracheal tube even though there were indications that the child had not recovered to the point where she could breath on her own. After the endotracheal tube was removed, the child could not sufficiently oxygenate herself and suffered permanent brain damage.
Kolsby Gordon was able to achieve a settlement that was sufficient to purchase an annuity to pay for the care this child would need for the remainder of her life.
Teen who suffered catastrophic brain damage awarded $18.5 million
A 15-year-old boy was brought to the hospital after suffering injuries in a motor vehicle collision. Because a surgeon failed to perform necessary brain surgery in a timely manner, the young man suffered catastrophic brain damage.
