HPS Partner Kate Dzik is now licensed to practice law in Michigan, further strengthening HPS’s ability to serve our clients across state lines.

Last week, HPS Partners Kate Dzik and John Travis joined Senior Jury Consultant Keith Pounds and Trial Consultant Michelle Cooper from IMS Legal to present a CLE on Jury Trends in Medical Malpractice Cases.

HPS attorneys, Marilee Clausing, Kate Dzik, and Olivia Tomassetti obtained a defense verdict in a recent Cook County trial involving two maternal medicine specialists practicing at an academic hospital.

HPS Attorneys, Marilee Clausing and Kate Dzik, assisted by Madeline Engledow, secured a defense verdict on behalf of a Chicago area hospital in a wrongful death case in Cook County.

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 April 2021, the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) issued a statement paper to provide guidance to obstetrical providers on managing the care of patients with amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) through a checklist created from standard management guidelines.

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.