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Birth Injury Case Takes 8 Years to Settle

It shouldn’t have taken eight long years to settle, but it did. The Rutherford family of Janesville sued for medical malpractice and won.

The facts of this case are that the littlest member of the Rutherford family, Jared, was born in 2001 with shoulder dystocia, a result of medical negligence during labor and delivery. In this instance, the injury was permanent. Jared experienced pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, loss of normal life and medical expenses as a result of his delivery. His first eight years on Earth had been difficult ones for him.

The foundation of this medical malpractice case was that the two attending doctors for Mrs. Kara Rutherford should have known the baby would weigh more than 10 pounds at delivery. As it was, the baby’s shoulder got stuck behind his mother’s pubic bone after his head was delivered. This meant his body did not easily follow the head during delivery. This complication caused a stretching injury to the nerves in Jared’s shoulder.

In reading further about this case, it is clear that there were other allegations that came into play, including failure to decide if a vaginal delivery was safe for Mrs. Rutherford, failure to do any appropriate testing and failure to use delivery techniques to reduce the risk of harm to the baby.

Furthermore, the plaintiff alleged the doctors didn’t appropriately dislodge the baby’s shoulder once it was stuck; instead they pulled and twisted the child. In addition the doctors also did not tell the parents the delivery could be hazardous to the child, nor did they offer Mrs. Rutherford the option of having a cesarean section.

In a nutshell, the case was a contentious one, and thousands of hours were spent in court laying a foundation to an eventual award for the Rutherfords of close to $900,000. This award was broken down into $228,084.88 for past medical and health bills; $255,600 for future health expenses and medical bills, $110,000 for loss of future earnings and $300,000 for past and future pain and suffering, disfigurement and disability.

During the period the Rutherfords waited to get their case resolved, they were faced with ongoing medical expenses on behalf of Jared in addition to their usual household expenses. Even with one or both of the parents working, the medical bills would have continued. Had the Rutherfords known about lawsuit funding, they may have had an easier time handling all the necessary everyday expenditures without the crushing worry of how the bills were going to get paid.

This kind of situation does not need to happen. In many cases, help is a phone call away. Do online research on litigation funding. You may qualify for a cash advance against your personal injury case. Lawsuit funding may be used to pay important bills such as car payments, mortgage payments, tuition, food and medical bills. Find a reputable lawsuit funding company that will provide the financial assistance necessary to permit you to wait for a fair and equitable verdict in your personal injury case.


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