Birth Injury Malpractice Case Settles for $8.5 Million

Three days into the birth injury medical malpractice case involving their brain damaged son Jose, the Ordonez family decided to resolve it for $8.5 million. Jose, now 5 years old, still suffers from seizures, is unable to see, walk, or even hold his head up, will need medical care the rest of his life as a result of the severe brain damage he suffered during his birth process.
On August 14, 2005, Jose’s mother Emily entered the Bayonne Medical Center to deliver a newborn. Initially, all signs pointed to a healthy and normal birth. According to NJ.com,
“But at 9:32 a.m., the heart monitor attached to her abdomen showed the baby’s heart suddenly plunged from 140 beats per minute to the dangerously low level of 60 beats per minute, according to court records and trial testimony. Telephone records show the labor and delivery room nurse waited almost half an hour before calling the attending obstetrician and when he arrived from Staten Island 22 minutes later, he waited until 10:55 a.m. to start an emergency Cesarean section, a procedure that took four minutes.”
The low heart rate was caused by the baby’s compressed umbilical chord. As a result, the baby was oxygen deprived which led to the brain damage.