United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I just wanted to share with you all that I truly feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders since we took a settlement with mediation. A lot of my anger is gone. for now anyway, we all know how that comes and goes. but for anyone out there considering a suit or for some of you that have looked away or down on it thier are an awlful lot of us out thier taking large settlements from doctors and hospitals who are willing to somewhat admit something went wrong. Every case is extremely different and in every proffession thiere can be mistakes but this many mistakes?? this is carelessness and until the medical profession realizes that obgyn and delivery is more then baby catching we must continue to push forward and let them know that this is unexcusable and I believe lawsuites do help. As much as they want to cover up in the media and make us look like a suing happy society deep down they know the problems that exist!! Why do you think so many nurses and doctors do not even get trained about this? not because it is a birth defect because it is LIABILITY! anyway you all are not so niave i am not telling any of you anything you do not already know. Just venting I guess!
God Bless

I hear you. I'm glad your suit had a positive ending and that your child will be cared for. Don't stop being proactive.

hello my child is 4, he has erbs palsy, he did 2 surgeries so far. he improved alot after the 2nd but still suffering . the arm now function about 50%. we filed a claim against the hospital. our layer want the case to be settled with $100 000 including his fees. do u think its a decent compensati on for his loss . if not what we have to do. please reply . thanks

THink about your losses and your child's losses.....50% use of his arm....my son has 80-95% use of his arm after two surgeries and my lawyer would not settle for anything less that $300,000. His injury was severe, but Dr. Nath really helped alot. We go to trial in October and my son's lawyer isn't even worried about losing..however, it is a federal case and there is no JURY !!!!!

If you settle, does the dr still get the mistake noted down on their record, or the fact that someone successfully sued? Just curious-if they don't, surely they can just carry on and do it again, and again....

I know that it becomes a part of permanent public record and their insurance will always know--regardless of where they go but I beleive the medical society has to take sanctions against them for it to become part of their practice "history". I may be wrong however so someone correct me if I am. I asked that at our facility once (long before the BPI happened) and that was the answer I got for WV.

Each state differs, but California - if the judgement is 30,000. or over it goes on the Doctor's record. If it's 29,999. or under there is no mark on his/hers record.

Julie

It's the same in Florida. The doctor we are still suing offered us the $29,999 at mediation and we said GO TO TRIAL. We already recieved settlement from his partner who was the delivering doctor and we felt we have a good enough case and that is not a reasonable amount. We also learned he settled another case recently where the mother hemmoraged to death after the birth of her son. In Florida if they have over 3 convictions for malpractice their license is revoked in the state.

its funny that someone mentioned baby catching that is the exact term one of the nurses in my obs office used when i was waiting in the office and to my surprise he returned in about 5 minutes. its crazy the case load that drs take on. some times i think that like most people they are taking on more to pay their expenses ie. malpractice insurance , when if they spent more time actually doing what they do they wouldn't need to pay so much. it's a vicious cycle, but when someone's life is in your hands their is no excuse for being careless.

Leanne, think hard about that settlement amount and let me tell you something in retrospect... We went to trial with a "for sure thing" case, a GREAT case, and lost. My daughter has nothing and $29,999 sure is a heck of a lot more than nothing. At least you could invest. It's a chance you take.
Good luck, sincerely, Natalie