Staten Island Lawsuit for Birth Injury at Staten Island University Hospital Settled

At the end of July a jury awarded $510,000 to a four year old boy who at suffered birth injuries at Staten Island University Hospital.  The Staten Island birth injury lawsuit was started by the family because the young boy suffered injuries at birth due to a lack of oxygen. The mother of the child was admitted into the hospital and did not deliver the baby boy until nearly 19 hours later. The mother was experienced very slow labor and was given pitocin. Pitocin is a drug that is administered to women in labor to help speed up the labor process.  Under normal circumstances pictocin can be a safe drug but in this particular case the woman was left on pitocin for too long causing her to have violent contractions. During the violent contractions the unborn child was still in the uterus and was squeezed by the violent contractions causing the child to suffer from being deprived of the proper oxygen the baby needed.

The lack of oxygen the baby experienced resulted in a rise in oxygen followed by a drop in oxygen and also resulted in the baby having multiple strokes and heart attacks within just the first day of birth. While the parent and the young boy are fortunate that the situation did not result in severe brain damage or in death the boy does suffer from having three lesions on his brain which will more than likely be there for the rest of his life and also as he gets older there seems to be a gap developing in his speach and general IQ when compared with other children his age which is more than likely attributed to the complications he suffered at birth.

According to the article in the Staten Island Advance about this birth injury case in Staten Island the average obstetrician has three medical malpractice claims filed against them throughout their career.  Obstetricians are actually the most commonly sued doctors because often mistakes that an obstetrician makes can result in severe damage to a baby that can affect them for the rest of their lives.

For more information on common birth injuries and what to do if your child was injured at birth in Staten Island click on our link about Staten Island birth injuries or call 800.976.4904.