Pegalis Law Group secures seven figure settlement for child whose mother died after giving birth.

LAKE SUCCESS, NY – March 28, 2024 (USANews.com) – The Pegalis Law Group, LLC, announces that it has secured a substantial seven figure settlement for the benefit of a child whose mother died in a State Hospital days after giving birth.

The mother, who had sickle cell anemia, was in a sickle cell crisis when admitted to the hospital. After giving birth to her baby boy, via cesarean section, she developed an infection at the site of the cesarean section, along with pneumonia, sepsis and hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood). She was initially being well cared for and monitored in an intensive care unit (ICU) but, inexplicably, after several days, was transferred to lower levels of care, ending up on an unmonitored “medical floor.”

She came under the care of a hospital resident just starting his second year of training. At about 7:15 on the morning of her death, she was seen to be in respiratory failure, but nothing was done. At about 9:30 she had severe problems breathing and was given a narcotic pain killer and Benadryl. Although the resident recommended that she be transferred back to intensive care, again nothing was done and she was not transferred.

She remained on the medical floor without adequate monitoring and without adequate therapy for her respiratory failure. At about 11:30, a panic-stricken nursing assistant called out that she “found” the patient in bed and gasping for air. The patient went into cardiac arrest. She was unable to be resuscitated and died.

The Pegalis Law Group, in a lawsuit against the State hospital, contended that, had the mother been kept in the ICU, her conditions would have been successfully treated and she would have gone home to take care of her newborn son. It was contended that the hospital’s response to her worsening respiratory failure was sluggish and that she should have been intubated on the morning of her death. It was contended that the mother was left alone in her room to struggle for breath and died a painful and needless death. The settlement, agreed to by the State after years of litigation, will go to help provide for the baby boy with substantial payments extending throughout his life.

Pegalis Law Group, LLC, a New York Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury law firm, advocates for those suffering as a result of avoidable medical errors and personal injury. In 50 years of practice, they have won some of the largest verdicts in New York State history and strive for medical accountability to ensure safer medical practices for better patient care. Learn more about the firm at https://pegalislawgroup.com and on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.