Legal news for Connecticut medical malpractice attorney’s. Stamford Hospital sued for failing to screen newborn baby for genetic condition.
Connecticut medical malpractice attorney- Stamford Hospital failed to test newborn baby boy for congenital hypothyroidism leaving him with permanent damage.
Stamford, CT—Stamford Hospital failed to conduct a routine genetic test on a newborn baby of a Darien couple. The parents of the baby boy are suing the hospital for their negligence in treating their son, which has left him with permanent neurological damage. The medical malpractice lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in Connecticut’s Superior Court,
Patrick and Katharina O’Connor parents of the newborn baby boy, filed the lawsuit on behalf of their son Peter, who was born on August 29, 2007. Peter was born with congenital hypothyroidism, which was not detected at birth. According to Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org/ congenital hypothyroidism is a thyroid hormone deficiency, which is detected at birth. If congenital hypothyroidism is left untreated for several months after birth, it can result to growth failure and permanent mental retardation. The state Department of Health started testing all newborn babies for the genetic condition in 1976.
The O’Connor’s claim their son’s condition went undiagnosed and untreated even though he showed problems directly after birth and had to be moved to intensive care. Peter’s hospital records stated blood samples taken from him on August 30, 2007, for the routine genetic testing. The records did not include the name of the person who collected the blood, nor did the state laboratory, a division of the Department of Public Health, which tests for the condition ever receive the sample. The O’Connor’s were told they would be notified if the results came back abnormal. Peter was later transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital for continued treatment and was released in October 2007. Peter was discharged from Yale-New Haven with an oxygen monitor and diagnosed with one to two lung diseases. Peter’s parents began to worry and contacted private pediatric physicians two weeks later about Peter’s newborn screening results. The doctors from New England Pediatrics were unable to recover the results because the Department of Public Health did not have any record of having a blood sample from Peter. The private pediatric doctors took a blood sample from Peter and readmitted him to Yale-New Haven on December 3, 2007. The O’Connor’s later learned their son did suffer from the congenital hypothyroidism condition and likely suffered neurological damage from failure to detect the illness at birth. As a result of the late detection of congenital hypothyroidism, Peter suffered “severe and permanent neurological damage that will prevent him from leading a normal life and will necessitate a lifetime of supportive care and supervision.” The lawsuit named the Stamford Hospital and Yale-New Haven Hospital as the defendants. The lawsuit is seeking damages over $15,000.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Connecticut lawyers specializing in medical malpractice.