Hospital trying to discount expert’s opinion in birth injury suit

As this blog has previously written about, birth injuries are almost never warranted. While anything can happen when dealing with the delivery of a child, expecting parents shouldn’t expect or accept negligent care from the doctor and staff that they are being treated by. And when people try to hold those doctors and staff accountable for birth injuries, they should expect their big-money opponents to fight back.
One woman, who is suing Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth in Beaumont, Texas, is facing just such a fight. The woman’s lawsuit, which was filed earlier this year, says that she came to the hospital because she was experiencing pain. She was 40 weeks pregnant at the time. The lawsuit says the woman was discharged. She returned and was admitted the next day and discharged again.
The girl was born with brain damage the next day. The lawsuit accused the doctor of negligence in properly monitoring her condition. When she filed the lawsuit, the girl’s mother submitted two reports from expert witnesses as required by Texas law.
Attorneys for the doctor argue one of the reports is not good enough, because the obstetrician didn’t state why is qualified to give her opinion on the matter. That doctor, however, has been on the job for 27 years. There is scheduled to be a hearing this month on whether the case will be dismissed because of the complaint.
This is what people should know that they will be up against when filing a malpractice lawsuit. They will try to discount the opinion of an experienced medical professional from having to admit wrongdoing. Hopefully this mother gets the help she needs for her child’s ongoing medical care.
Source: Southeast Texas Record, “Validity of expert report called into question in med-mal over brain damaged newborn,” David Yates, Aug. 14, 2012