HPS successfully defended an appeal in a case involving emergency department care.

On March 13, 2024, Aaron Ryan, Partner at HPS, hosted a webinar with the Illinois Society of Healthcare Risk Management (ISHRM) on Premises Liability - Helpful Investigation Insights.

Intrapartum uterine contractions and engagement of the fetus in the birth canal can compress the fetal head. There is a long-standing view that this head compression is benign in most cases, and that it’s a common cause of intrapartum fetal heart rate decelerations.

In the ever-evolving pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 (commonly referred to as Covid-19), there appears to be an ongoing shift in the medical community with respect to the question of whether Covid-19 can be transmitted in utero from mother to fetus. While early studies showed that transmission was unlikely, recent reports of apparent transmission have emerged creating conflicting findings.

According to a report posted on Frontiers in Pediatrics, doctors followed four pregnant women from the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic – Wuhan, China – who tested positive for COVID-19. The women all gave birth while actively symptomatic. The conclusion after testing and observation was that the COVID-19 virus did not pass from the mother to the fetus, and the infants were born without any of the respiratory signs of COVID-19.

A Google search of a phrase like "Birth Trauma causes Autism" will result in links to, inter alia, various legal websites asserting that trauma during labor and delivery is a cause of a child's autism or behavioral issues. The most recent of a series of medical articles, however, points to a potential alternative cause – maternal use of acetaminophen.

In the second standard, Reduce the likelihood of harm related to maternal severe hypertension/preeclampsia, there are six elements of performance.Both of these standards address prevention, recognition, treatment and education to improve maternal outcomes. While improving outcomes is a goal every organization will support, we feel these standards may also offer the opportunity to reduce potential liability and litigation.

Maternal hemorrhage is one of the most important clinical issues in obstetrics today – and a not uncommon source of potential liability in obstetrical negligence litigation. This new standard, "Reduce the likelihood of harm related to maternal hemorrhage," was based on recommendations from technical advisors, clinicians, and administrators and included extensive literature review.