A Chicago hospital has reached a $15 million settlement with a mother who was “overdosed” with Pitocin during her delivery. The tragic mistake left a now 6-year-old girl with permanent brain damage and cerebral palsy.
In this issue, we’ll talk about what happened.
The Case at a Glance
After the mother arrived at the hospital, she was almost immediately given the labor-inducing drug Pitocin – a synthetic version of Oxytocin. Attending medical staff, however, gave her too much of the drug, and the baby began to show signs of distress.
Eventually, the excessive doses of Pitocin led to too many contractions that were both too strong and occurred too closely together, stopping the oxygen and blood flow to the child’s brain.
Because of the brain damage she experienced, the girl cannot walk, talk or care for herself in any meaningful way, and her life will be filled with extensive future medical care and therapies.
Easy For Medication To Be Administered The Wrong Way
As we wrote in a recent issue, it’s shockingly easy for medical personnel to administer the wrong amount of a medication.
For example, if any of the medical personnel misses a decimal point, the patient could be given ten or a hundred times too much or too little of the medication.
In the case above, however, it’s not especially clear what directly led to the mother being given Pitocin for such an extended period of time.
Call The Fitzgerald Law Firm If Your Child Experienced A Birth Injury
If your child experienced a birth injury, we want to talk with you about your options. We’ll investigate your case and aggressively pursue compensation to help cover medical treatments, in-home care, rehab, surgery and other needs.
The first consultation is always free, so call The Fitzgerald Law Firm at 800-323-9900.