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Brachial plexus injuries are often the subject of lawsuits, but a defense of unforseeability can be used. Factors that often come up during lawsuits of this type are reviewed. Defenses are considered.

We often encounter cases that seem 'manufactured,' that is, lawsuits by injured patients searching for a theory of negligence. Simple logic is often all that is necessary to defeat such [...]

Some cases seem indefensible because of the care rendered, the injuries sustained, or both. But sometimes, what appears a certain liability can turn into a defense because of through investigation, [...]

Matthew Kachinas was one of the few OB-GYNs in Florida willing to perform late-second-trimester abortions. No longer; Dr. Kachinas has lost his medical license. He performed a selective-reduction procedure for [...]

Agnes Gereb, home-birth believer The pioneer of home births in Hungary faces jail IF HISTORY were a guide, obstetrics in Hungary should be wonderful. In 1847 Ignac Semmelweis pioneered mother-friendly [...]

A Texas woman in her 40s underwent a myomectomy followed by a hydro-thermal ablation of the endometrium for treatment of heavy menstrual flow. During the hydrothermal ablation, the equipment was [...]

A California woman delivered her child in the hospital at term. During delivery, a shoulder dystocia was encountered and the obstetrician released the impacted shoulder to accomplish the delivery. Unfortunately, [...]

A 40-year-old Louisiana woman underwent an outpatient laparoscopic tubal cauterization. Two hours after the procedure, her blood pressure began to drop. She was promptly transferred to a hospital and underwent [...]

Requiring Medical Treatment of Non-Consenting Pregnant Women The ethics committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists describes the maternal-fetal relationship as a 'unique one' as it involves 'two [...]

It's always a tough call picking the right doctor. Just ask President Bush. Bush, hoping to gain support for his national call for malpractice insurance reform, invited two doctors to [...]

In a region best known for its cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, the latest Napa Valley product is a whine from the region's only OB/GYNs: settling price-fixing allegations with the Federal [...]

In 1995, a 32-year-old woman delivered her third child in a California hospital. Two hours later, a postpartum tubal ligation was performed and she was discharged from the hospital the [...]

Some obstetrical experts say brachial plexus injuries in newborns can be caused by uterine contractions alone. This self-serving theory has little scientific support. Obstetricians refer to the difficulty in delivering [...]

CASE ON POINT: Fluet v. FL Birth-Related Neur. Inj. Comp. Assoc., 2D00-914 (Fla. App. 3/7/2001) ISSUE: If an obstetrician orders Pitocin in response to a nurse's call, has he participated [...]

NURSES, ONCE CONSIDERED HANDMAIDENS OF PHYSICIANS, HAVE COME A LONG WAY; NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A NURSE! In this Colorado case, an obstetrician was summarily suspended from his hospital [...]

In 1998, a California woman presented to the hospital in the very early morning with a term pregnancy and was admitted in early labor. She previously had consented to a [...]

CASE ON POINT: Rubert-Torres v. Hosp. San Pablo, (2000 West Law 249149) F.3d - PR ISSUE: Can a plaintiff be banned from the court room, in which her case is [...]

A young woman in Idaho was being cared for during her pregnancy by a family practitioner, who sent her to an obstetrician for an amniocentesis to determine fetal lung maturity. [...]

Department editor Dawn Collins, JD, is an medical malpractice in Long Beach, Calif. She welcomes feedback on this column via e-mail to DawnCF@aol.com A New York woman who delivered a [...]

In 2005, an Illinois woman with elevated blood pressure was admitted to a hospital for induction of labor at 38 weeks' gestation. She was started on oxytocin and around midnight, [...]

A Michigan woman alleged that her son suffered pain as a result of a circumcision that was performed the day after his birth. She sued the obstetrician and claimed that [...]

WHEN SHOULDER DYSTOCIA was encountered during delivery, the ObGyn applied gentle pressure to deliver the head. He was assisted by an ObGyn resident. The child was born with a brachial [...]

PREGNANT WITH TWINS, a 24-year-old woman was hospitalized at 33 weeks' gestation, and remained there until delivery. There was no clinical evidence of fever or intrauterine infection during her hospitalization. [...]