The key to the successful prosecution of birth injury claims against hospitals, obstetricians and other medical professionals is retaining the most qualified medical expert witnesses. The role of these experts is to explain why the doctors and/or hospital fell below the standard of care and therefore caused the birth injury and resulting catastrophic damages.

All medical malpractice cases, and especially birth injury cases, require a mastery of medical terminology, which is extremely technical and often difficult for a jury to understand.  This is why it is so important for medical malpractice attorneys to obtain experts who have impressive qualifications and knowledge, as well as the ability to explain the theories of liability to the jury in a simple and persuasive manner. The verdict ultimately could come down to which expert is more likeable and/or which expert did a better job connecting with the jury.

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Defense attorneys who defend doctors/hospitals are paid by insurance companies. These insurance companies have access to hordes of experts who are ready and eager to testify that there was no breach in the standard of care or that the actions of the doctor or hospital employees did not cause the injury and damages. It is not as easy for plaintiffs’ attorneys to secure these experts, and frequently, we have to rely on our reputation and prior relationships to locate and secure the best possible expert.

Steps To Selecting The Best Expert For A Medical Malpractice Case:

1. Review the medical records to identify the type or range of medical issues that will be in dispute.
2. Identify the target defendant(s).
3. Prepare a concise chronology based on the medical records and clients’ narrative of what happened.
4. Ask lawyer colleagues and doctor friends for references and referrals.
5. Search listservs and other resources through trial attorney/consumer attorney organizations.

What To Look For When Identifying Medical Experts:

1. Are they academically credentialed?
2. Are they experientially qualified to give opinions about the standard of care in this medical area?
3. Do they have a proven track record of testifying in cases that resulted in favor of the plaintiffs?

A Real Life Example

The Drexler Law Firm recently achieved a multi-million-dollar settlement in a case where the obstetrician and hospital were sued because their negligent acts and omissions caused permanent and catastrophic injuries to a newborn. Baby girl “A” is a profoundly brain damaged two-year-old girl whose condition was caused by a lack of oxygen (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy), which occurred during childbirth as a result of the negligence of her doctors, nurses and hospital.

The catastrophic events occurred one night at around 3 A.M. when baby girl A’s mother went into labor. Her OB/GYN, Dr. “K”, also happened to be the on-call doctor that night. Dr. K admitted the mother to the hospital and began attending to her labor.

About one-hour post admission, Dr. K was notified of the arrival of an emergency walk-in patient. This patient was in labor prematurely (at 28 weeks) and required an emergency Cesarean-section surgery (C-section).

Dr. K then — for no legitimate medical reason other than for his own convenience — artificially broke baby girl A’s mother’s water and administered Pitocin to speed up her labor. He then went to attend to the emergency C-section.

While Dr. K was performing the emergency C-section, complications with baby girl A’s mother arose. The umbilical cord wrapped around baby girl A’s neck, making it necessary for her to undergo a C-section. Suddenly, Dr. K needed to perform two emergency C-section surgeries simultaneously — one of which he created for no legitimate medical reason.

Unfortunately for our client, Dr. K was unable to get back to her quick enough to assist with her complications. Had Dr. K not ruptured our client’s membrane (broke her water) and administered Pitocin prior to starting the other patient’s emergency C-section, or had the hospital prepared adequate back up staff for simultaneous emergencies, all of this could have been avoided. Instead, these events caused bradycardia (abnormal slow heart rate), hypoxia (oxygen deficiency), asphyxia and subsequent brain damage to baby girl A.

Thanks to the medical experts we retained and their invaluable assistance with this case, we were able to overcome the defense and force the defendants to pay a multi-million-dollar settlement which will take care of the special needs and lifetime care for baby girl A.

A medical, technical case such as this could have been hard for the jury to comprehend had we not secured such talented experts. Our selection of the most highly qualified and effective experts was vital to winning this case. Retaining this group of experts allowed for us to obtain a large multi-million-dollar settlement for our clients. We were able to secure this group through our prior relationships, our reputation and through extensive research.

This case is a perfect example of how winning medical malpractice birth injury cases is all about winning the battle of the experts.

Here was our list of powerhouse experts we found and retained:

Howard C. Mandel, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. (Violation of applicable standard of care) 

Barry S. Schifrin, M.D. Interpretation of the E.F.M. (Electronic Fetal Monitoring Strips)

Barry D. Pressman, M.D., F.A.C.R. interpretation of the Neuro-Radiological Imaging of Brain (MRI)

Mary Kay Dyes, M.D. (Opinions by the treating Pediatric Neurologist)

Paul Hofmann, Dr.P.H., FACHE (Hospital Administrative Liability)

Vivien Mudgett RNC, M.A., M.S.N. (Liability Nurse)

Luis Montes, M.D., FAAP [Pediatric Psychologist (regarding life long needs)]

Donna L. Lester, RN, P.H.N., B.S.N., C.C.M. (Future life special needs planner)

James Mills, M.A. [Economist (regarding financial damage projection)]

Disclaimers:

The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction.  This blog is not intended to, and does not, create an attorney client relationship, an offer of employment or a guarantee of success for clients of The Drexler Law firm.  No information or representation contained in this post should be construed as an offer of employment, guarantee of success or the creation of an attorney client relationship with The Drexler Law firm, nor as legal advice from The Drexler Law Firm or the individual author.  No reader of this post should act, or refrain from acting, on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer in the corresponding jurisdiction.

There are time deadlines during which a case must be brought, according to your jurisdiction or state, and failing to abide by the jurisdictional statute of limitation rules can result in your case being time-barred.