Sommers Schwartz attorneys Richard Groffsky and Michael McCullough II secured a settlement totaling $2.875 million over claims the defendant caregivers failed to treat the mother’s group B strep (GBS) infection during labor, resulting in her sepsis and subsequently causing her infant son to suffer a debilitating neonatal stroke.

The plaintiff presented to the defendant hospital with preterm labor contractions. Suspecting a GBS infection, the defendant obstetrician-gynecologist ordered a culture to determine the need for antibiotic therapy. The nursing staff did not perform the test, nor did the doctor check on the results; had he done so, he would have known the test wasn’t completed and ordered it again. The plaintiff’s labor was stopped, and she was sent home two days later. 

Although penicillin is the first-line drug treatment for GBS, the plaintiff had a severe penicillin allergy. In such cases, Clindamycin is the standard alternative medication, but its efficacy is lower due to a high resistance rate in up to 40% of patients. The accepted standard care recommends avoiding Clindamycin without proven GBS sensitivity, and Vancomycin should be given to penicillin allergy patients whose GBS status is unknown.

The plaintiff returned to the hospital with preterm rupture of membranes and renewed contractions. Being of her unknown GBS status, the defendant doctor ordered the initiation of Clindamycin — not Vancomycin — violating the standard of care. Also, in clear violation of the standard of care, the nurses never questioned the doctor’s Clindamycin order despite the absence of any GBS sensitivity.  

As her labor progressed, the plaintiff became clinically ill from her progressive and essentially untreated infection. This prompted fetal heart rate changes that indicated a lack of fetal well-being in the latter stages of the labor.

The baby was born in satisfactory condition and had a relatively uneventful neonatal course, but the plaintiff remained septic for days until a culture and sensitivity done on her placenta and umbilical cord showed a Clindamycin-resistant GBS infection. For the first time, she correctly received Vancomycin and quickly recovered.

At about four months of age, it became evident the child had a left-sided hemiparesis. An MRI confirmed the presence of a stroke involving the right hemisphere of the brain. The plaintiff’s experts testified that the cause of the stroke was likely the severe inflammation associated with the untreated GBS infection in the umbilical cord and placenta — the only reasonable explanation for a stroke at that age. The experts further testified that antibiotic management with Vancomycin would have prevented the inflammation and ensuing stroke. 

Because of the defendant obstetrician-gynecologist’s and nurses’ failure to meet the respective standards of care, the child has been profoundly affected and will require treatment, rehabilitation, and other services for the rest of his life.