Medical Malpractice ­ Wrongful Birth - $750,000

Wrongful Birth $750,000
Injuries alleged: Severe hepatic problems
Court: Withheld
Amount of settlement: $750,000

Case Summary:
The plaintiff sought a bilateral tubal ligation after the birth of her second child. The defendant, an obstetrician/gynecologist, negligently failed to ligate the plaintiff's left fallopian tube, believing that it had been removed in a previous procedure, which it had not.

Subsequently, the plaintiff gave birth to a child with severe hepatic problems, requiring a liver transplant. The child is doing well but may be required to be on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of her life.

The plaintiff was prepared to present the testimony of a board certified obstetrician that the defendant failed to comply with the standard of care at the time by failing to ligate the left fallopian tube. The defendants did not name a standard of care expert in expert interrogatories, but named a pediatric specialist, who was prepared to testify that the child had done well since the liver transplant, and it was anticipated that the child would have no further medical problems.

The case settled for $750,000 at the time of the final pretrial conference and the assigning of a trial date.