Malpractice??

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I am trying to figure out if I have a legal case or not. I will try and stay brief and to the point.
My wife was seeing a OBGYN specialist because our child was not growing properly in the womb. The specialist felt that the fetus was not recieving enough blood flow and that was the cause of the slow growth. My wife went to these speialists 2 times a week for 3 weeks. Each time she was give a "thourough" Sonogram to check the health of the fetus. These Sonogram tests were fairly intensive and lasted approximatley 30 miuntes each time. Usually the Sonogram was done by a nurse only, only one time did a doctor perform any Sonogram work. When my wife asked about this they said "They will see everything I would". My wife also asked each visit if there was anything unusual on the Sonogram. We were told each time, "there's nothing wrong with your baby, it just has low blood flow". And on the reports it always read "NO FETAL ANNOMALIES".
Well, in the delivery room we were shocked to find out that our daughter was missing finger on her left hand, had no right hand, and only had one bone in her right arm. This event ruined the birth day of our daughter. Instead of rejoicing we were mourning. Had the Doctors caught this during the Sonograms, we could have delt with this many weeks ago and have benn able to enjoy our daughters birth.
We are not interested in a wrongful birth lawsiut. We are interested in making sure these Specialists never make this mistake again. Having no knowledge of the law, I'm not sure If I have any basis for a claim. Pain and Suffering?? Mental Anguish??
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Originally posted by Charliep
What is the name of your state? Georgia

I am trying to figure out if I have a legal case or not. I will try and stay brief and to the point.
My wife was seeing a OBGYN specialist because our child was not growing properly in the womb. The specialist felt that the fetus was not recieving enough blood flow and that was the cause of the slow growth. My wife went to these speialists 2 times a week for 3 weeks. Each time she was give a "thourough" Sonogram to check the health of the fetus. These Sonogram tests were fairly intensive and lasted approximatley 30 miuntes each time. Usually the Sonogram was done by a nurse only, only one time did a doctor perform any Sonogram work. When my wife asked about this they said "They will see everything I would". My wife also asked each visit if there was anything unusual on the Sonogram. We were told each time, "there's nothing wrong with your baby, it just has low blood flow". And on the reports it always read "NO FETAL ANNOMALIES".
Well, in the delivery room we were shocked to find out that our daughter was missing finger on her left hand, had no right hand, and only had one bone in her right arm. This event ruined the birth day of our daughter. Instead of rejoicing we were mourning. Had the Doctors caught this during the Sonograms, we could have delt with this many weeks ago and have benn able to enjoy our daughters birth.
We are not interested in a wrongful birth lawsiut. We are interested in making sure these Specialists never make this mistake again. Having no knowledge of the law, I'm not sure If I have any basis for a claim. Pain and Suffering?? Mental Anguish??
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First let me say that I do not think you could have changed anything had you known earlier that your baby was deformed. The sonograms should have picked up that problem although sonograms are not 100% accurate. This is because the fetus may change positions many times during gestation.
I suppose you mean that you more readily would have accepted your child's condition if you had had earlier warnings. That's true. No doubt the birth was a shock to you. Probably to the doctors too.
Doctors as well as nurses may be unable to read a sonogram properly or to know when to repeat one. You say sonograms were runseveral times every few weeks. That sounds as if the doctors were trying. Now, if the fetus was suffering "low blood volume or flow" that suggests placental problems. Little can be done to change this, except perhaps by adminstering anti-coagulants, and this is "iffy".
Your best approach to your problems is to see to it that your daughter gets the best pediatric care possible, and that you give her the love and attention she deserves. Beyond that, you have not much recourse. Even if a lawyer takes your case the likelihood that he could win it is slim given the number of sonograms and the apparent effort put into your wife's pregnancy.

Thanks for the reply. That's kind of what I expected. My main reason for the possibility of the lawsiut was to make sure this did not happen again to someone else. Knowing earlier would not have changed the outcome of this pregnancy. And you can be sure our daughter will get the very best care from now forward.

I just am dissapointed with the apparent level of effort by the Doctors (three of them, supposeed to be the best in Atlanta). I assume these Doctors went to school many more years than the nurses they have interpreting the Sonograms. Wouldn't their expert eye have been better for examining a fetus with problems than a nurse?

The main Specialist Dr. also visited us right after the birth to appologize and say that he was having a meeting the next day to crucialy examine office procedure. Sounds like an addmission of guilt to me.

Listen, I am a reasonable person. Nothing will change my situation. I just wanted to take a bite out of a DR. who in my mind was neglent in care.

Thanks

Of course you c an always write a letter to the doctor, and send a copy to the Board of Medical Examiners in Georgia, and perhaps a copy to the Department of Ob.gyn at the hospital, just to let people know you are unhappy. If you do this, try to keep it objective.
I'm sorry you were one of many whose medical care is less than the best. Birth defects are a real problem, and not all are the result of poor care.