OB caught lying, settles after viewing birth video
Videotaped evidence had MD dead to rights
Sometimes a childbirth videotape can produce one of those Perry Mason "gotcha!" moments that attorneys and risk managers usually have nightmares about.
That is what happened with a recent case handled by Don Keenan, JD, an attorney in Atlanta who has represented parents in hundreds of obstetrical malpractice cases. The case was settled before trial, apparently for good reasons, and the confidentiality agreement prevents Keenan from divulging the doctor's name or other identifying information. But he tells Healthcare Risk Manage ment that the videotape led to a moment that would make any Hollywood screenwriter proud.
The case hinged on whether the obstetrician had used excessive traction in delivering a child. There were adequate warning signs that the baby would be unusually large, but the doctor tried a vaginal delivery. When the child became stuck at the shoulders, a common problem with large babies, the doctor apparently used brute force to pull the baby out instead of other more acceptable maneuvers. The baby was left with a debilitating brachial plexus injury and moderate retardation from oxygen deprivation.
When the parents sued, the doctor denied using excessive force to pull the baby out. Records indicated the baby was stuck for only two minutes, but the parents' videotape showed the child's head was out for 10 minutes. The doctor resisted efforts to settle, insisting he had done nothing wrong.
In preparing for trial, Keenan deposed the doctor under oath. The doctor denied using force to pull the baby out. Then Keenan asked the doctor, "What if an obstetrician were to put his foot up on the table underneath the baby's head and yank hard on his head? Would that be an acceptable standard of care?"
The doctor said such a move clearly would constitute malpractice, even extremely negligent malpractice. Keenan allowed the doctor to elaborate for a few minutes about how terrible it would be to respond that way to shoulder dystocia. Then he played the videotape. The tape clearly showed the doctor putting his foot on the table for leverage and yanking on the baby's head "as if he were pulling a sack of potatoes across the floor," Keenan says.
"The doctor turned white, and then gray, and then green. When he regained his composure, he just stood up and looked up at me with a blank stare, then walked out," Keenan says. "I turned to the defense lawyer and said I assumed the deposition was concluded. He responded by saying he assumed the whole case was concluded. And it was."
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