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Medical Errors During Delivery Causes Wrongful Death of Mother

Ohio Medical Error and Wrongful Death Case: History

Lyndsay Biggar, wife, mother of one son, and law enforcement officer, was eight-plus months pregnant in 2019. When she thought her water broke, she was told to go to the local hospital for evaluation and likely delivery.

Lyndsay met her husband, Ron, at the hospital. Here, she was admitted and seen by several different doctors, most of whom were still in training. The doctors and nurses spent almost three hours trying to confirm whether Lyndsay’s water had broken. Meanwhile, Lyndsay was indeed in labor, her baby was coming, and Lyndsay had a history of quick labors. Her first son was born just two hours after her water broke.

Following the birth of her first son, Lyndsay had suffered a small hemorrhage. And now, this baby was in breech position; instead of its head being the first body part to come out of the birth canal, its bottom was positioned to come out first. This is not ideal and can be a cause for concern. Lyndsay’s birthing plan was to deliver this baby by C-section.

Unfortunately, no one told the baby about this plan. While the healthcare team was trying to determine if Lyndsay’s water had broken, the baby kept moving down the birth canal, butt first. The further the baby goes, the more difficult a C-section becomes. Still, the delivery went according to the birth plan as recorded in the operative report. There was a healthy delivery of the baby, and everything looked good.

Except it was not good. The color drained from Lyndsay’s face while the doctors were still finishing the C-section. This indicated that she was losing blood from somewhere. The doctors called for more help. When help in the form of a gyn-surgeon arrived, it was clear that Lyndsay’s uterus had been seriously injured and would have to be removed. The surgeon was able to remove her uterus successfully but could not stop the bleeding. A trauma surgeon was then called in. The trauma surgeon located many sites where Lyndsay was bleeding and was able to control the bleeding but not before Lyndsay lost a lot of blood, coded, and had to be resuscitated.

Lyndsay was transferred to the ICU in critical condition. She was sedated and could not breath on her own.

The massive bleeding took its toll. Lyndsay suffered an anoxic brain injury. Because of all the bleeding, her brain did not get enough oxygen to function properly. This resulted in significant and permanent brain injury. Lyndsay began having seizures, and an MRI showed that she had near-global brain damage. A neurologist determined that Lyndsay had no chance of meaningful recovery. Less than three hours after being admitted to hospice, her breathing tube was removed, and she died.

Ohio Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death Case: Litigation

Ron Biggar hired The Eisen Law Firm to represent him in the potential wrongful death and birth injury case. The Eisen Law Firm’s first step was to collect all the medical records, including the records of Lyndsay’s first successful birth as well as her prenatal care, primary care, and OB/GYN doctors. While this might sound easy, many of the healthcare facilities refused to provide the records or did not provide the complete records. Knowing what to look for and what is missing is very tricky and having a seasoned medical malpractice attorney handle this is crucial to the successful outcome of any medical malpractice or birth injury case.

Once these records were secured, lead attorney Brian Eisen reviewed them - all 2,400 pages. Mr. Eisen does not use nurse paralegals to do this work – he reviews records himself, page by page – so that he knows the medical aspects of the case intimately. In Lyndsay’s case, the medical records showed she was at increased risk of rapid labor and post-partum hemorrhage.

Brian Eisen also performs his own exhaustive medical research. In this particular birth injury and wrongful death case, he personally researched, retrieved, reviewed, and analyzed over 70 primary journal articles to prepare for the litigation.

After Mr. Eisen reviewed the medical records and the medical literature around Lyndsay’s birth injury case, he developed a complete understanding of what happened to her before, during, and after her deliveries. He then put together a team of experts to review the case and prepare to take this case to trial.

Part of the legal strategy for this birth injury case included having his team of medical experts brainstorm ideas that might be presented by the defense. One such idea was that Lyndsay might have had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition causing friable tissues, which can cause unavoidable tears in the uterus, resulting in fatal postpartum bleeding. 

Mr. Eisen wanted to make sure he could refute that argument if it was raised at trial. So, he located an expert in this syndrome and ultimately arranged for DNA testing, which established that Lyndsay did not have this condition. This closed off a potentially devasting avenue for the defense.

All told, Mr. Eisen worked with a team of eight highly specialized doctors, all of whom work in or with women’s health care and birthing.

Ohio Medical Negligence and Wrongful Death Case: Negotiations and Proposed Settlement

Ask any mom of multiple children, and they will tell you that the birth of each of their children was different. The same is true of birth injuries: each is different. Brian Eisen knows this and sets out to learn the details of each birth injury case. He can then tell a family, the defense, and a jury the true and complete story. Once Mr. Eisen knew Lyndsay’s story, he was able to approach the hospital to discuss a potential resolution.

Mr. Eisen has been handling birth injury cases and medical malpractice cases exclusively for the last 25 years. He has had many cases with this hospital, both jury trials and settlements, and knows the opposing attorneys well. Mr. Eisen has a reputation of being a zealous and knowledgeable adversary. Because he knows both the medicine and the law, and because of his track record and reputation, he is often able to reach early resolutions of the medical malpractice cases on which he works.

Prior to negotiations, Mr. Eisen produced a documentary-type film that included Lyndsay’s family, friends, and co-workers. This film showed Lyndsay’s life and the devastating impact of her fatal injury. This film played a major role in the negotiations of this birth injury and wrongful death case. Eventually, the parties agreed to a confidential, seven-figure settlement.

The Eisen Law Firm: Medical Malpractice. Exclusively.

Ron Biggar specifically sought out a firm that handles medical malpractice and birth injury cases when he started looking for help with his legal needs. He did not want to be a number or have his case get less than optimal attention. He wanted to be able to talk with the attorney who was handling the case and have that attorney actually be the one doing the work. Most importantly, he wanted the firm he hired to have medical and legal knowledge. After doing his research, he hired The Eisen Law Firm, knowing that we checked all his boxes for a medical malpractice and birth injury firm.

Ron received much more than a completed box-check when he hired Brian Eisen and The Eisen Law Firm to represent him. Brian was able to help Ron understand exactly what went wrong during Lyndsay’s delivery and secure the resources he will need as his family grows older.