United Brachial Plexus Network

First the great news from DeShawn about Rain and today I found this report of another pre-trial settlement. It's from Law.Com New Jersey:

$2.375M for Birth Injury

Ward v. an obstetrician: A 5-year-old girl who suffered brachial plexus injury during delivery will receive $2.375 million under an Oct. 30 settlement with the obstetrician in Middlesex County.

Plaintiffs' attorney Alan Medvin says the obstetrician who delivered Allison Ward on Jan. 19, 1996, at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune applied too much force to free her shoulders. The child's right arm, wrist, hand and fingers are paralyzed and atrophied, he says.

Medvin, of Newark's Medvin & Elberg, says the doctor should have known from the sonogram and the mother's gestational diabetes diagnosis that the delivery posed risks of shoulder dystocia and also should have discussed the possibility of a Caesarean with the mother beforehand.

The doctor wasn't identified because of a confidentiality agreement. His lawyer, James Sharp of Parsippany's Reiseman Sharp Brown & Rosenberg, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Medvin says the defense seemed prepared to present evidence that the injury couldn't have been prevented, the doctor didn't apply too much force and that Ward's potential earnings losses were less than the plaintiff's case suggested.

The case settled shortly before it was to be tried before Superior Court Judge Douglas Hague.

- By Henry Gottlieb

Thanks for the article. Choosing a good attorney has been very difficult for me. Everybody "says" they're good, but I think it's their history that speaks for itself. Congratulations to DeShawn's family and to the family mentioned in this article.