Giving birth should be one of the most joyous occasions for Illinois families and others around the country. If something catastrophic should happen and a newborn baby dies, the parents would be understandably devastated. The tragedy would be compounded if a family believed that the baby’s death occurred because of hospital negligence. Recently, a woman in another state filed a lawsuit against a medical center and a nurse employed there for actions she claims led to her son’s death.
Court documents reflect that a mother filed a $8.6 million lawsuit related to the death of her baby boy in 2012. She claims that the defendants caused foreseeable harm to her son as well as emotional distress to her after her child died. The lawsuit states that the woman wants a trial by jury.
Before the woman was to be discharged from the hospital, she was given sleep aids and narcotic painkillers. The baby was taken to the nursery so the new mother could rest. According to the lawsuit, a nurse brought the baby from the nursery to the mother for feeding. The mother and baby were left alone after the nurse went out of the room.
The mother awoke about an hour later, feeling sleepy and disoriented. She asked for a nurse to come to her room when she discovered that her baby was unresponsive as she held him. When no one responded, the documents state that the woman went into the hall to scream for help. The baby was put on life support, and it was later determined that he had suffered severe brain damage. The parents agreed to end life support following the advice of physicians.
Such a tragedy could have been avoided had the mother not been left unattended in her heavily medicated state. Families who have experienced such a loss may decide to file a wrongful death lawsuit due to hospital negligence. An Illinois personal injury attorney can help families work toward a successful outcome of a monetary award for funeral expenses and compensation for the grief and suffering caused by the loss.
Source: CNN, “Oregon woman who accidentally suffocated her newborn sues hospital“, Sonya Hamasaki, Stella Chan and Joe Sterling, Aug. 11, 2017