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A female obstetrician and gynecologist was sued by a patient who claimed that the doctor could have spared the plaintiff the anguish of her daughter's physical and mental impairment had the obstetrician not been negligent. The lawsuit was for two million. The testimony of the plaintiff's previous doctor that she had, in fact, given the plaintiff genetic counseling was to win the case for the lady obstetrician. The case was to be a lesson to the doctor that thorough medical documentation, a good lawyer and participating actively in a case by appearing regularly in court can win a case., That's how much the plaintiff wanted, claiming that she would have had an abortion if she'd been warned about the risk of transmitting a rare genetic disorder to her baby. [...]

An obstetrician relates how he was sued for giving his opinion to a patient named Vivian Andrews. Andrews sued the hospital for not providing appropriate care for her pregnancy, thereby causing her to have a ruptured uterus and eventually lose her child. The trial lawyer was attempting to establish a doctor-patient relationship between him and Andrews during the time of the tragedy. On the day the verdict was given, the trial lawyer suffered a stroke and died two days after. Meanwhile, the obstetrician was acquitted for all charges filed against him., As EMTs carried the plaintiff's attorney from the courtroom, the author was startled to hear the lawyer's parting words. Every Ob/Gyn lives in dread of a malpractice case. Mine was [...]

A survey indicates that 76% of obstetricians in the US have reported having faced litigation at some point in their careers, most often for having allegedly caused cerebral palsy (CP). Strategies that can reduce obstetricians' risk of malpractice litigation include better self-policing by the medical profession, the establishment of special health courts, and educating the public.