Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Keyanna Vaughn, the mother of Marcus Crawford Jr., was first admitted to the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago for induction of labor on Aug. 11, 2009. This was done after test results were revealed during a prenatal visit.

On Aug. 12, 2009, a hospital intern and senior resident attempted vaginal delivery without success. Dr. Meredith Cruz was a maternal/fetal medicine fellow who took over at that time. Dr. Cruz had completed her OB/Gyn residency in June 2009 and had recently begun her maternal/fetal medicine program.

Dr. Cruz diagnosed that the fetus was experiencing shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia is a specific situation arising in labor and delivery when the delivery of the baby’s head occurs, but the anterior shoulder of the baby cannot pass through the birth canal and requires the doctor’s or nurse midwife’s manipulation or maneuver to rotate the baby. In other words, a shoulder dystocia is diagnosed when the baby’s shoulders do not deliver right after the baby’s head is delivered. The baby gets stuck in the birth canal as a result, which can clearly be a very serious dilemma.
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During the delivery of the newborn in this case, the fetal monitor of the fetus indicated non-reassuring signs over the course of several hours, including heart rate abnormalities. In this summary of the case, the baby is Baby Doe. This was a confidential settlement in which the parties were identified as Doe, being the mother of the newborn, Baby Doe and Roe, being the physician, the obstetrician and hospital that were sued.

The mother of Baby Doe experienced uterine tachysystole. Uterine tachysystole is defined as six contractions in a ten-minute period.There have been many studies as to whether more than six contractions over a ten-minute period within the first four hours of labor induction is associated with adverse infant outcomes. However, six more contractions in ten minutes were significantly associated with fetal heart rate decelerations.

A nurse at the Roe hospital notified the treating obstetrician who allegedly reviewed the monitor strips but did not re-examine Baby Doe’s mother.Baby Doe was born in a depressed condition with Apgar scores of 3 at one minute and 6 at five minutes.
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Kimberly Williams went into labor at 20 weeks’ gestation. Full-term gestation is generally 39 weeks. She was admitted to Sinai Grace Hospital where she delivered a stillborn boy at the facility’s labor and delivery unit.

Later, Williams requested a repeat ultrasound. The treating obstetrician, Dr. Charlene Williams, declined to order the test and instead gave Cytotec to deliver the placenta.

The use of Cytotec is used to reduce the risk of stomach ulcers caused by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pregnant women. Significantly, Cytotec may cause abortion, premature birth or birth defects if taken during a pregnancy.
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Baby Doe, 6 months, had an appointment with a physician at the Roe Family Physician office where the baby’s parents were concerned over asymmetrical folds in the baby’s right thigh and buttocks. The family practice physician misdiagnosed Baby Doe and said that all was well.

Six months later, another physician, a specialist, examined Baby Doe who had by then begun walking with a limp. The child was diagnosed as having a right hip dysplasia, which required hip surgery, including a femoral shortening.

The Doe family, on behalf of the child, sued Dr. Roe and her medical practice alleging that she chose not to diagnose a congenital hip problem. The defendants asserted that the baby’s problem was developmental, not congenital and was therefore not diagnosable at an earlier stage.
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The United States will pay $5 million in a settlement to resolve a medical malpractice lawsuit alleging that physicians at a Florida naval hospital chose not to order a cesarean section despite signs and symptoms of fetal distress. As it turned out, the fetal distress caused the baby’s permanent brain damage.

Jenifer and Sean Mochocki, a U.S. Air Force officer, reached a settlement with the federal government in this Federal Tort Claims Act case and asked the federal district court judge to approve the settlement and the medical malpractice lawsuit. The suit alleged that three Naval Hospital Jacksonville physicians chose not to order a cesarean section procedure in the face of adverse fetal heart tracing, which resulted in the Mochocki baby’s hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which is a permanent brain injury related to oxygen deprivation.

The settlement is partially structured in that the Mochocki family will receive $1,590,000 and approximately $3 million will be used to purchase an annuity that will allow for monthly payments of approximately $7,600 for the baby’s life. An additional payment of $4,500 will be made per month when the child reaches the age of 18 until the end of life.
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Rebecca Kerrins, the mother of now 5-year-old Drew Kerrins, sued Palos Community Hospital, Dr. Thomas Myers and Renaissance Medical Group alleging that Dr. Myers chose not to make himself available to take care of Drew’s emergency soon after the baby was delivered.

After a bench trial, a Cook County judge entered a judgment for more than $23 million to the family of Drew Kerrins because of the delay in providing a blood transfusion, which led to the child’s development of cerebral palsy and other cognitive injuries.

Rebecca Kerrins was admitted to Palos Community Hospital to deliver her baby in June 2011. Unfortunately, her placenta separated from her uterine wall at the time of delivery, which caused the baby to lose as much as half of her blood by the time she was delivered.
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Baby Doe, two months old, underwent an MRI after being taken to a hospital by ambulance. The attending anesthesiologist, Dr. Roe, ordered Propofol to prevent Baby Doe from moving excessively during the test.

While undergoing the MRI, Baby Doe’s oxygen saturation level dropped below 90. The baby suffered respiratory arrest resulting in cardiac arrest. Baby Doe experienced hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Baby Doe — now 9 years old — is unable to take care of himself or speak.

Following this tragic brain injury, the Doe family sued Dr. Roe and his practice alleging that the anesthesiologist chose not to properly monitor Baby Doe during the MRI. The lawsuit also claimed that an attending technician failed to notify Dr. Roe when he noticed Baby Doe’s decreased oxygen saturation. The court had dismissed the radiology technician as a party defendant on that defendant’s motion. The Doe family is appealing that ruling. Continue reading

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At the moment of birth, the most objective method of assessing a newborn’s metabolic condition is by analyzing umbilical cord blood gas. To be specific, arterial cord pH and base deficit can determine perinatal hypoxia and be an insight into causes of fetal distress.

Umbilical cord blood gases are most likely interpreted in situations of high risk pregnancies when there are abnormal fetal heart rate patterns, when there is an intrapartum fever, emergent C-section for a fetal compromised, low Apgar scores (less than 3) or when there are multiple fetal births.

There are three most common causes of neonates hypoxia or asphyxia, which are when the mother is oxygen compromised, when there is preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, hypotension, hypovolemia or cyanotic heart disease. Another type of condition that causes hypoxia or asphyxia is when the oxygen flow from the placenta to the fetus is obstructed or impaired. This could be caused by a placental abruption, a cord prolapse, or repetitive cord blockage.
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A federal district court judge in Harrisburg, Penn., has entered a judgment for $42 million to the parents of a Pennsylvania boy left disabled because of brain injuries. In the federal lawsuit, it was alleged that the brain injury was caused by a doctor who used forceps during the delivery process of the child.

The judgment came after a six-day trial in September on claims by a Chambersburg, Penn., couple, Christiana Late and Nathan Armolt. Their 5-year-old son, identified only as D.A. in court documents, understands language but cannot speak, read or write.  He will eventually have to use a motorized wheelchair in order to move about.

The family sued the federal government for errors allegedly made by an obstetrician for Keystone Women’s Health Center, a federally supported facility. Dr. Thomas Orndorf, who was not sued, delivered the child Feb. 21, 2012, at Chambersburg Hospital. Under the law, when a federally financed clinic has been alleged to be negligent causing injury to a patient, the remedy is a claim against the United States under the Federal Torts Claim Act.
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The birth injury to a newborn is perhaps the most heartbreaking injuries that human beings face. The birth of a newborn child is a remarkable event by itself. It comes with the promise of a long and healthy life. However, when an obstetrician, nurse midwife or labor and delivery nurse are negligent, this can cause a birth injury, brain damage or birth trauma. The results are devastating to the baby as well as to the parents and siblings.

In particular, the birth injury to a newborn child who has been injured permanently by the negligence of a labor and delivery team has long-term effects on the mother. In fact, too often mothers are injured during child birth; this may well play a role in their ability to bear more children.

The physical effects on a mother who gives birth to a newborn child coupled with a traumatic labor and delivery injury are easily recognized. The mother may suffer from uterine bleeding, bone fractures and bruising, a uterine rupture that may have been caused by an error in the Cesarean delivery, fissures, infection, pre-eclampsia or eclampsia, uterine hyper-stimulation, vaginal tears or even the wrongful death of the mother. Maternal deaths are much more common than one would expect.
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