Patient advocates rip new New York Birth Injury fund as a red-tape

New York, not hospitals, will pay the medical bills of newborns who suffer brain injuries during child birth, under the state's just completed annual budget.

Hospital leaders, who lobbied hard to create a state-run neurological fund, say it will reduce medical malpractice premiums.

But patient advocates insist it will create another layer of red tape for patients and let hospitals off the hook for medical errors.

"This has set up a bureaucratic monstrosity for these families where they will be forced to go to the state for their child's care," Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice & Democracy, told the Albany Times Union.

Under the new state budget, a neurological fund was created that will cover children who experience an injury to the brain or spinal cord "caused by the deprivation of oxygen or mechanical injury in the course of labor, delivery or resuscitation or by other medical services provided or not provided during delivery admission."

Families still must file lawsuits and prove medical negligence in court. Families that win or settle the lawsuit would be enrolled into the fund.

Hospitals will save an estimated $320 million in malpractice premiums, according to the Greater New York Hospital Association.

Albany will pay for the neurological fund with money raised by cigarette and health-related taxes.

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