Defense Verdict for Obstetrician in Maternal Death and Brain Damaged Infant Case in St. Louis County

Defense Verdict for Obstetrician in Maternal Death and Brain Damaged Infant Case in St. Louis County

Chicago
January 30, 2025

Marilee Clausing participated as national counsel in a three week obstetrical malpractice trial in St. Louis County, Missouri involving a maternal death and delivery of a brain damaged infant. She was asked to join the defense team because of her expertise in defending claims of obstetrical negligence. Plaintiffs alleged that the failure to perform a timely C-section for non-reassuring fetal heart rate tracings and an arrest of labor resulted in delivery of a severely depressed and brain damaged infant. The  plaintiffs further alleged that the failure to perform a hysterectomy following maternal hemorrhage contributed to cause the death of the mother. The patient was a Jehovah’s Witness who declined blood transfusion despite being told while still conscious that she could die as a result of the severe blood loss. The defense team successfully showed that the labor and delivery were properly managed, that there was no arrest of labor, that the C-section was timely done, and that foregoing hysterectomy was a reasonable decision by the obstetrician. The defense further argued that it was an unpredictable and unpreventable placental abruption that caused the infant’s brain damage and the maternal hemorrhage and the DIC that followed. The obstetrician delivered the infant by emergency C-section within 11 minutes of the onset of fetal bradycardia and within 7 minutes of the decision to perform the C-section. The jury reached its verdicts on the two claims in less than five hours. HPS attorney Matt Ennis provided invaluable assistance in this trial victory.

Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide legal advice but to provide general information on legal matters. Transmission is not intended to create and receipt does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Readers should seek specific legal and/or medical advice before taking any action with respect to matters mentioned in this publication. The attorney responsible for this publication is Marilee Clausing. This post constitutes a form of attorney advertising as defined by some state bar associations.