Jury Returns Verdict in Cerebral Palsy Case

Last Friday, a jury returned a verdict of $4.4 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina on behalf of a child who had developed cerebral palsy after suffering a brain injury during birth. The injury was the result of a nurse misreading the fetal heart monitor data.

The lawsuit was filed in York County Court of Common Pleas against Piedmont Hospital by the parents of Sierra Wilson, who was born on November 18, 2003.

Cerebral palsy is commonly referred to as CP and is a condition which involves disorders of muscle coordination and movement. Typically, there are many sensory impairments, seizures and cognitive issues with cerebral palsy sufferers.

If a child's brain is deprived of oxygen during labor and delivery, the child will be left with life-long disabilities from the injury, which could include the inability to talk, walk or move.

According to the cerebral palsy lawsuit, the mother entered the hospital with nausea and vomiting three days prior to being scheduled to induce labor. They alleged that the hospital failed to meet reasonable standards of care after a nurse who was assigned to monitor the mother failed to interpret data from the fetal heart monitor, which suggested that the baby was in distress.

A fetal heart rate monitor is a device that is used to monitor the heart beat of a baby during labor. When properly monitored, this can allow medical staff to identify signs of fetal distress which might require emergency intervention.

The nurse was a trainee at the time of the accident and it was determined that proper care could have prevented the brain damage which left her with cerebral palsy.

The child died of complications on February 13, 2008, one year before the jury found that the hospital was negligent, awarding her family $4.4 million.