Medical malpractice covers not only mistakes made by doctors and nurses but also mistakes made by other types of health care providers who owe patients the duty to treat them according to the applicable standard of care. The failure to do so will make certain health care providers, such a paramedics and physician assistants, for example, liable for malpractice. This article explores what happened when paramedics failed to recognize that a pregnant woman had experienced a placental abruption at near term and required immediate transportation to a hospital in order to safe the life of her baby.
According to the report by the law firm that handled the case, the woman, who was near full term in her pregnancy, had her membranes rupture while at home very early in the morning. Two paramedics responded to her home but failed to recognize signs that she had suffered a placental abruption and that she was in hypovolemic shock (a condition that occurs when there is a sudden loss of blood). As such they did not immediately transport her to the hospital where an emergency C-section could be performed.
Their failure to take immediate action caused a delay of at least 18 minutes during which time the woman’s unborn baby suffered from hypoxia (the loss of necessary oxygen due to the placental abruption). The baby died one day after being born. The bleeding was so severe that the woman had to undergo an additional surgery to control the bleeding. She also suffered from temporary kidney failure due to the loss of blood.
The law firm that handled this matter sued the paramedics for their failure to recognize the woman’s condition and their delay in transporting her to the hospital. States have different laws in cases involving the death of a newborn.
In the state where this case arose, for example, in order to be able to recover for the emotional damage suffered by the woman from the death of her baby the law firm that handled the case had to establish that the mother (1) suffered a physical injury that resulted from the same negligence that caused the death of the baby and (2) that such physical injury to the mother would not have typically occurred in a normal childbirth (she required additional surgery for the bleeding and suffered temporary kidney failure).
Six months after the death of her baby, she started suffering from severe depression which, despite a regimen of therapy and medication, continues through the time of the law firm’s report and will require the lifelong use of medication. The law firm reported that they took the case to trial and achieved a verdict of $4.5 million on behalf of the woman.
As this case illustrates, there are a number of health care providers, such as paramedics, who in addition to doctors and nurses, are held accountable for providing care that is in keeping with the applicable standard of care. When, as in this case, they fail to do so, they may be liable for malpractice.
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on complex injury cases, including birth injury medical malpractice cases. You can learn more about placental abruption and Medical Malpractice Cases at his website. www.birth-injury-malpractice-law.com.
