The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

On May 7, 2000, around 5 a.m., one Suzette Dineen who was eight months pregnant was rushed to the emergency room of Frederick Memorial Hospital in Frederick County, MD. She was experiencing abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting.

On her arrival, a fetal heart tracing was done and the rate was found to be 128 beats per minute. The ER physician was notified but he did not see her. At 7 a.m., her obstetrician was informed of the situation but he also did not see her.

At 8 a.m., an ER nurse tried to ascertain the baby's heart rate again and was unable to detect it. She notified Labor and Delivery. A doctor found the baby's heart rate to be only 30 and he called for an obstetrician who proceeded with a C-section. The placenta had ruptured, causing the baby's heart to slow dramatically.

When the baby was born, its heart was not beating and he was not breathing. He was resuscitated but had by then suffered brain damage. He was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. That is a lifetime disability involving impaired muscle control and cognitive function, seizures, and reduced sensory function.

Medical Malpractice Claim
Hospital protocol requires a woman in Dineen's condition to be monitored in the Labor and Delivery suite. Instead, Dineen was left unmonitored in the ER. Dineen's family filed a medical malpractice lawsuit and the jury determined that the two doctors who did not see Dineen that early morning were guilty of negligence and responsible for the baby's Cerebral Palsy.

Three nurses and a third doctor were also named in the lawsuit but were found to be free of any responsibility. That included the ER nurse who had notified Labor and Delivery of the baby's non-detectable heart rate.

The attorney who defended the hospital and nurses stated that the placenta had ruptured only about 15 minutes before the C-section was performed. In other words, when Dineen arrived at the ER, there was no way anybody could have known that the placenta would later rupture.

"Everything is viewed through the prism of the outcome and not based on the information available to the physicians," he said. "There are times when [juries' decisions are] affected by the outcome and not by what people knew at the time."

The Award Breakdown
The total award amount was $3,991,000. Of that, $71,000 is for past medical expenses (the baby is now nine years old); $870,000 is for medical expenses until age 18, $2 million is for those expenses after age 18; $750,000 is for lost wages; and $300,000 is for pain and suffering. However, the plaintiff's attorneys are also paid out of the award amount so those numbers will all be lower in practice.

If you have suffered from medical malpractice, or if you have a loved one who has, please contact our medical malpractice attorneys today for a free case evaluation.

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