A jury has awarded a Bronx woman $50 million after a ruling that her obstetrician wounded her while delivering her baby in 2009. According to documents produced during the medical malpractice trial, the physician performed an unnecessary episiotomy and kept urging her to push, even though the baby’s head was already out.
Apparently, the woman was never informed of the procedure, and was still oblivious to it in 2010 when she became pregnant again. That baby was delivered vaginally with a midwife – a process that worsened her tissue tears.
The woman later endured several surgeries to repair the tissue damage, but the procedures were unsuccessful. She was also forced to leave her job as a physical therapist aide. Today, she continues to have pain in her pelvic region and has significant bladder control issues.
Episiotomy an Outdated Procedure
We’ve been on a tear recently about the frequency of mistakes in the surgery room. You can read those articles here and here.
In this particular case, we’re concerned about the doctor’s decision to perform the episiotomy. The procedure involves making a cut between the mother’s vagina and anus to enlarge the vaginal opening for the baby to be delivered.
However, more and more health care providers are seeing the episiotomy procedure as high-risk and outdated. In many cases, episiotomies can lead to:
- Deeper and longer tearing from delivery
- Prolonged recovery
- Increased risk of infection
- Increased risk of incontinence
- Loss of pleasure from sex
The Fitzgerald Law Firm Makes Sure You Get What’s Fair
While our heart breaks for the Bronx woman at the center of the case mentioned above, we’re very thankful that her babies are healthy and that she is being compensated for what her doctor has put her through.
If you feel you’ve been the victim of medical malpractice, we’d like to talk with you about getting proper compensation. We’ve successfully represented hundreds of medical malpractice cases nationwide for more than 40 years. Our commitment is making sure you and your family get what is fair if you’re the victim of medical malpractice. Throughout our history, we’ve recovered well over $1 billion for our clients.
Contact us here at The Fitzgerald Law Firm today by calling 800-323-9900!