Birth Injury Lawsuit Settles for $6.4 Million

The family of an 8-year-old Arkansas girl has settled a birth malpractice lawsuit for $6.4 million. The lawsuit contended that doctors and a nurse at White River Medical Center in Batesville made critical medical errors which led to blindness and brain damage during the birthing process. This particularly tragic case is just one of many birth injury events that occur in the United States each year. For example, for every 1,000 babies born alive in the U.S. each year, six babies incur birth trauma injuries. The rate is higher for male babies than for females, and the injuries occur more frequently in non-profit hospitals compared to for-profit hospitals. Additionally, national birth injury statistics show that significantly more birth injuries occur in large hospitals (i.e., with over 300 beds) compared to small (less than 100-bed) hospitals.