Inattentive Delivery
A woman in labor was admitted to a hospital at midnight. Soon after admission, the fetus experienced irregular heartbeats and decreased heart tones. The woman's OB/GYN, the insured, attended to the mother and then left her in the care of the nurses. Over the next several hours, the fetus continued in distress and was finally delivered nearly eight hours later. Immediately after birth, the infant required intensive resuscitation, and was left with serious and permanent neurological problems. The child now experiences seizures, requires a feeding and breathing tube, has minimal vision, and is a spastic quadriplegic. The parents of the child filed a lawsuit against the hospital, its nurses, and the insured OB/GYN alleging a failure to monitor, advise, and perform a timely C-Section in the face of fetal distress. In his defense, the physician said he did not deliver the baby earlier because the nurses did not alert him to the worsening condition. However, the nurses deny his charges, and the hospital report backs them up. The claim was settled out of court for approximately $5 million.

Delays Turned Tragic
A middle-aged woman sued a group of medical associates who cared for her during her stay at a nursing facility. The suit arose after her arm became gangrenous and required amputation. The suit alleges that two physicians who are part of the medical group failed to properly diagnose the plaintiff's condition, which resulted in delays that caused her condition to worsen. After complaining of discomfort in her left hand, the plaintiff was seen by a nurse practitioner, who suspected Raynaud's disease, because the hand had decreased sensation, was discolored, cyanotic, and cool to the touch. The nurse practitioner ordered tests and an evaluation with a vascular surgeon. There was some delay in conducting the tests because of a requirement for authorization from the plaintiff's primary care physician. During that time, the plaintiff was seen by the two physicians in the defendant medical group. Tests and an x-ray were ultimately approved and performed but in the interim, her hand became worse, becoming cold, painful to touch, and wrinkled. At that point, one of the defendant physicians felt the patient could no longer wait for elective, outpatient diagnostic tests, but, in fact, should be transferred to the hospital by way of 911. Upon being admitted to the hospital emergency room, it became necessary to amputate the woman's arm. Case is pending.

Was This Physician at Fault?
The parents of a baby who sustained brain injury at birth are suing the neonatologist who cared for the infant. The physician is part of the insured pediatric medical group. The plaintiffs allege the physician failed to treat and monitor the bilirubin level on their newborn and, as a result, the baby has cerebral palsy, experiences seizures, and has developmental motor delay and hearing and vision impairment. The baby was born with Rh-isoimmune disease, which occurs most typically when the mother has Rh-negative blood. Immediately after birth, the baby was admitted to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, where he received five blood transfusions. After the third transfusion, the baby's bilirubin level increased to an above normal level and continued to rise. Following the fifth transfusion, the baby developed severe neurological abnormalities, which can sometimes be attributed to persistent elevation of bilirubin levels. The case was settled out of court.