Barabin v. Kaiser

Dr. Fagel obtained a settlement of $4,000,000 on behalf of a child who now suffers cerebral palsy and developmental delays as a result of injuries occurring during the birth process. The mother was initially admitted to the defendant hospital for a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean delivery (Her first child was delivered by C-section nine years earlier). The next day, when there had been very little progress in labor, the patient asked for a C-section but the attending physician recommended further trial of labor. When the patient finally began to push, all fetal heart tones were lost on the monitor. The physician was unable to obtain a fetal heart tracing for the next 10 minutes and then called for the attending obstetrician, who diagnosed fetal distress but did not order a stat C-section until nine minutes had elapsed. While the attendee was preparing for surgery, another physician arrived and proceeded to deliver the baby via vacuum. 23 minutes after the initial diagnosis of fetal distress, the baby was delivered with dangerously low Apgar scores and acute asphyxia. The $4 million dollar cash settlement was reached after Dr. Fagel and his associates proved that the defendant negligently performed the delivery by failing to perform a timely C-section, resulting in the infant’s oxygen deprivation and subsequent brain injuries.