In a confidential settlement, the parties agreed to $1,250,000 for the unfortunate death of a newborn infant. In this case, before the mother’s scheduled Caesarean section, the mother underwent three transplacental amniocenteses to assess her baby’s lung maturity. The purpose of a transplacental amniocentesis is to compare transplacental with non-placental amniocentesis because of possible complications.
Amniocentesis is a frequently used invasive procedure during a woman’s pregnancy guided by ultrasound to remove a sample of amniotic fluid for testing. The procedure requires specialized medical or assistant training. Amniocentesis is a technique for withdrawing amniotic fluid from the uterine cavity using a needle.
The fluid is then tested in a laboratory to determine the health of the unborn fetus. The fluid is composed mostly of fetal substances including urine and secretions. Many times amniocentesis is done to determine whether there are genetic difficulties or to study the maturity of the unborn fetus’s lung maturity. There are risks involved with the transplacental amniocentesis, which occurred here. There was fetal bleeding from an alleged placental abruption that may have been caused by the amniocentesis procedure.
The mother’s son was born with hypovolemic shock. Hypovolemic shock is an emergency condition in which severe blood and fluid loss makes it difficult for the heart to continue pumping blood into the body. Because of that condition and in spite of efforts to resuscitate, the baby died.
The mother brought a lawsuit against several of the medical providers involved and claimed that there was a failure to provide a proper interpretation of the electronic fetal monitoring tracings taken after the amniocentesis. There were allegations that the medical providers chose not to timely resuscitate the infant.
Before the commencement of trial, the case settled for $1,250,000.
The attorneys representing the mother and family were Elizabeth N. Mulvey and David W. Suchecki.
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling birth injury cases, wrongful death cases and medical negligence cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 38 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Gurnee, Grayslake, Crystal Lake, Rolling Meadows, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Hinsdale, Wheaton, Joliet, Round Lake Beach, Waukegan, Chicago (Wrigleyville, Wicker Park, Bucktown, Rodgers Park, Portage Park) and Joliet, Ill.
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