Weitz & Luxenberg Wins $6 Million in Pediatric Malpractice Case
PEDIATRIC MALPRACTICE PRESS RELEASE:
November 21, 2006, New York, NY—Over
one in four pregnant women carries the bacteria Group B Streptococcus (GBS or
Group B Strep). It can cause an infection that is easily treatable with
antibiotics. Despite how often the infection arises or how devastating its
effects when left untreated, babies continue to suffer at the hands of
physicians who fail to follow proper procedure. Toward its ongoing dedication to
hold doctors and other medical professionals accountable for the tragic injuries
they inflict with substandard care, Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C., one of the
leading medical malpractice and personal injury litigation law firms in America,
is gratified by a recent related malpractice suit that yielded a settlement of
$6,150,000.
The case, filed in Rockland County, New York, involved an
infant who suffered brain damage at six weeks of age due to a failure to timely
diagnose and treat meningitis and sepsis caused by the GBS bacteria. This little
girl, now 2 ½ years old, lives with mental retardation and an intractable
seizure disorder—seizures that cannot be controlled with medication. The
monetary award derived from this case will be used by her mother and
grandparents to help mitigate the overwhelming cost of caring for her for the
rest of her life.
Allan Zelikovic, who handled the case and is the head
of the Medical Malpractice Unit at Weitz & Luxenberg said, “It is shocking
to think that a pediatrician would withhold antibiotics to such a sick baby.
There can be no good explanation, especially since the results are so very
tragic.”
The mother was treated for GBS during labor, receiving
intravenous antibiotics. However, six weeks later, when she brought her daughter
to the pediatrician with a high fever, the pediatrician failed to read the
pre-natal records, which noted that the baby had been exposed to GBS during the
pregnancy. Instead of immediately administering antibiotics upon signs the baby
was infected, the doctor withheld that vital medicine while waiting for test
results. The doctor later admitted that had she known of the GBS exposure, she
would not have withheld antibiotic treatment.
As a result, the child
suffered from sepsis, meningitis and strokes. She spent most of the first year
of her life in hospitals and now endures daily therapies at home. Appallingly,
all of this trauma could have been prevented with entirely standard medical
care.
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