A new study has found that the number of U.S. women who die from anesthesia complications during childbirth has fallen sharply in recent decades, but deaths specifically related to so-called regional anesthesia, including epidurals and spinal blocks, have crept upward since the mid-1990s.
"It is concerning," said lead researcher Dr. Joy L. Hawkins, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.
It is hard to study the potential reasons for the increase in deaths linked to regional anesthesia, precisely because they are so rare. But information from malpractice claims suggests that a number of deaths in recent years were related to a lack of emergency resuscitation equipment in the delivery room.
To read more about the study, click Birth Injuries
Attorneys of Ross Feller Casey, LLP has built a remarkable record of victories in Birth Injury related cases, amassing a long list of seven- and eight-figure verdicts and settlements. They include:
•$22 million verdict in a birth injury case involving blood arriving late for a transfusion
•$12 million recovery in a birth injury case
•$8 million settlement for a child who suffered a brain injury due to a delay in delivery
•$7 million recovery for a child left with cerebral palsy as a result of obstetrical negligence
•$7 million settlement for a woman who died just after delivering a baby
•$6 million settlement for an infant who suffered brain damage because a nurse midwife and nurses failed to manage fetal distress during labor
•$5.5 million recovery for a child who was brain injured at birth because an obstetrician failed to recognize signs of placental abruption
•$5.5 million settlement for the family of a 23-year-old woman who died after giving birth to her daughter
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